Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One moment Jinu was watching Rumi, with tears rolling down her cheeks and beautiful iridescent patterns glowing in the light, and the next moment darkness had swallowed him whole. He felt blessed that the last thing he had seen was her. His soul would be in good hands. He was finally free, he welcomed the darkness that wrapped around him. Silence surrounded him and the last cadences of her voice slowly disappeared. His heart ached at the thought of leaving her behind. Her tears hurt just as much as her sword could.

His consciousness was floating in a black void. Nothing hurt and nothing burned. No whispers were invading his mind. No demon god of fire burning in his veins. He wanted to laugh from the relief. He was truly free. Still it felt hollow, he wished that he could have stayed beside her.

A golden light pulsed in the darkness for a moment and then he woke up.

He blinked as he stared at the ceiling of a dilapidated building. He knew this ceiling, but that shouldn’t be possible. He shouldn’t be able to see that ceiling. There was a giant hole in the roof, he could make out the blood red sky through it. He was in the demon realm.

“Is he dead?” A voice asked in a bored drawl. Jinu knew that voice. It was Baby Saja. Four people leaned over him.

“I think he finally realised that he has been torturing us for the last year,” Romance said as he ran a hand through his hair. He was leaning against Mystery.

“You alive down there?” Abby asked as he nudged Jinu with his foot. The four Saja Boys stood over him. Their demonic orange eyes watched him attentively. The last thing he remembered was them being discorporated by the hunters and consumed by Gwi-Ma’s flames. It should not be possible for them to be here.

Once a demon got killed in the real world, they would not truly die. Instead they rematerialized in the underworld after a while and more often than not, Gwi-Ma killed them for failing. If Gwi-Ma killed you there was no turning back. There would be no second chance.

“What happened?” He asked. He was sure that he had died and given his soul to Rumi.

“You collapsed in the middle of practice,” Mystery whispered as he leaned down and held a hand out to Jinu. He took it and let himself be pulled to his feet. Mystery froze for a moment after Jinu dropped his hand. He stared at his own hand as if it held the mysteries of the universe.

“I don’t remember, what day is today?” Jinu asked with a groan.

“No idea. I don’t keep track of the human calendar. But I remember you saying yesterday that you want to present Gwi-Ma with your idea in three months,” Abby said with a shrug. He was watching him closely, so he noticed when Jinu froze.

“I haven’t presented my idea yet?” He asked slowly. He had gone back in time. They had not debuted yet, he had not yet met Rumi and the award show hadn’t happened yet. He had not yet doomed hundreds of souls. He had not yet hurt Rumi.

He was in the past. Jinu felt his hands shake. He covered his face, trying to hide his expression from the others. He was truly in the past.

He was in the past but he didn’t hear him. There was no whisper of Gwi-Ma in his ear. There was no whisper of failure and promises of torture anymore. He couldn’t hear him. Their connection was not there. Gwi-Ma had no hold over him. The calls of his mother and sister no longer howled in his ears. Instead he could remember the good times as well, their loving smiles and touch. The betrayal was no longer the only thing that he could recall. Tears stung in his eyes.

Erasing the memories would not have helped. Gwi-Ma was the one that kept the pain fresh that kept the shame and the betrayal bleeding like an open wound. Without his whispers, their memory no longer burned.

A maniacal laugh left his lips. He hastily brushed his tears aside.

“After four hundred years, I think he has finally lost it,” Baby muttered as he slouched. Reflexively, Jinu kicked his shin. He had hounded them about their horrible posture so many times leading up to his proposal. Before he could open his mouth, the other four demons interrupted him.

“Keep your back straight, good posture is the image of an idol,” the four of them said at once, clearly remembering all the times Jinu had tried to drill it into their thick demonic skulls.

He could no longer go through with the proposal. He couldn’t betray Rumi again. God, Rumi. He could hear her laugh and see her smile. He wanted to run to her. He wanted to be beside her.
She didn’t know him, at least not yet. He wanted to meet her again. He wanted to get to know her once more.

“Jinu, touch me again,” Mystery said as he held out his hand.

“That sounds all kinds of wrong,” Baby said as he shuddered dramatically.

“The kind of thing shippers would go wild for.” Romance acknowledged. Jinu had pounded into them all things about idols and their fandoms. They were supposed to be idols, so they needed to know this stuff. Jinu was like a drill sergeant and had haunted their nightmares.

“Please,” Mystery said. Jinu blinked at the demon but obediently held out his hand. It was at that moment that he realised his patterns had changed. They were dark purple but glistened with an iridescent shimmer. They nearly seemed black when he moved his arm a certain way. Mystery seemed to relax as soon as his fingers came into contact with Jinu.

“I can no longer hear his whispers.” His voice was filled with awe. Exclamations of surprise rose and soon Jinu found himself surrounded by them. They were all touching him.

“It's quiet.” Baby’s voice was filled with awe.

“We can only faintly hear him,” Romance whispered.

“You are like a buffer,” Abby said as he leaned fully against Jinu.

Jinu was feeling overwhelmed and he slowly sat back down on the ground again. The other four followed him, keeping close contact with him and relishing the quiet in their heads. Jinu had become like a sudden oasis in the desert.
They must have looked ridiculous to anyone else, as they were piled close together.

“I need to think,” Jinu muttered, doing his best to ignore the other four demons.

He had returned to the past, Gwi-Ma's voice no longer reached him, he was a buffer for the other Saja Boys and he needed to escape the demon world. If Gwi-Ma caught wind of this, Jinu would be disintegrated again. He didn’t want to die twice. He didn’t want to leave Rumi behind.
He needed to leave the Demon world.

“Gwi-Ma cannot learn of this,” Abby said from beside him.

“He would kill you,” Romance whispered.

“We will try to keep your secret,” Mystery said. They could only try, Gwi-Ma had ways to get the information he wanted. None of his methods were pain free.

It would be easier to leave them behind but as he watched their content expressions as they leaned against him he couldn’t do it. He had something far more precious than fear that bound them to him. He was their salvation. Now he had something that none of them wanted to lose. Quiet and peace. They would be sceptical but for now he was their ticket to some much needed solace from Gwi-Ma’s whispers. Most importantly though, Rumi wouldn’t leave them behind.
Maybe this was a good chance to practice not being selfish.

He had invested hours, weeks and months into them. He didn’t fully trust them but they were useful and he somewhat begrudgingly even liked them. He had picked the members of the Saja Boys carefully, they all had retained a sliver of their humanity.

Still, if Gwi-Ma got ahold of them they would still betray him. His new-found ability was good leverage to keep them on his side. Still, he knew just how poisonous the words of Gwi-Ma could be. Almost every demon lived in fear of him. The demon king knew all their weaknesses and he would make use of them.

He would remain cautious around them. His caution had saved his life more than once in the last four hundred years.

He would take them with him when he escaped to the human realm.

There was only one thing they were all good at and that was being an idol. He had coached them relentlessly. It had been months of work. It would be a waste not to make use of it.

They would have to become idols once more and this time Jinu refused to do everything alone. Last time he had been producer, choreographer, song writer, manager and idol all in one. It had been stressful and a pain.

They needed at least a manager of some kind. Someone that could schedule their promotions, shows and interviews. He had just the demon in mind. He vaguely remembered that water demon that had been decked out in their merch. He had cried when they had performed. He had been joyful when their music echoed in the underworld, he had worshiped them. Jinu knew that he could draw him in again. A single touch from him would seal the deal. He would make the perfect manager or at least fan manager. Jinu grinned wickedly and somewhere else in the demon world an unsuspecting water demon had to sneeze.

He would need to find a small agency in the human world that would be willing to debut a boy group. He needed to do research in the human world. He needed to find a rift, a bridge between worlds. They occurred naturally, often at midnight when the veil was thinner. The only thing Jinu was worried about were the other Saja Boys. They were still clinging to him. He wasn’t sure that he could even leave the building without them.

“Guys, there will be a change of plans,” Jinu said out loud.

“I guessed as much.” Romance sighed theatrically but he still leaned against him.

“Please, don’t tell me that the months of practice were for naught.” Baby groaned as he flopped onto the floor. His knee was resting against Jinu’s own.

“Oh no worries, you will need that practice,” Jinu promised darkly. There would be much more practice in the future.

“Demon.” Baby pouted. Abby and Romance let out a pained chuckle.

“We will just do it without Gwi-Ma’s permission.” Jinu grinned.

“Even if we don’t hear him anymore when we touch you, he still is connected to us, he could pull us to him at any moment.” Mystery warned.

“There is nothing that can sever our connection with him.” Abby groaned in defeat.

“The hunters, if they seal the Honmoon, the connection will be lost,” Jinu exclaimed. When he had sung together with Rumi, there had been no connection with Gwi-Ma at all. Only afterwards had he been able to grab him. If the Honmoon was strong, maybe Gwi-Ma would not be able to pull them in.

“Great, you expect us to just go up to them and ask them to sing for us?” Romance said with a laugh.

“Demon hunters and demons are kind of mortal enemies, in case you forgot,” Baby said as he rolled over. He was now using Jinu’s knee as a pillow.

“I think he really hit his head hard when he fell earlier, if he is even forgetting existential stuff like that,” Romane mused with a wicked grin.

“Abby, can you grab the notebook? I want to try something out,” Jinu asked. With a pained sigh and clearly reluctant, Abby got up. He broke his contact with Jinu and he could see him wince. The voices had returned. Abby had gotten up and walked over to the other side of the room to grab a notebook.

Jinu opened his mouth and the lyrics for Summer Dream spilled from his lips. It was a Huntrix song. They had released it last year as a summer song. Jinu could only vaguely remember the music video. All he could really recall was Rumi in a pretty floral summer dress and large sunhat. His voice filled the building. An upbeat melody that invited anybody to sing along. It was a simple feel good song. As the last notes left his lips, he could feel himself smile.

Abby was still standing on the other side of the room. He seemed frozen for a moment.

“It stopped the voices.” He sounded like angels themselves had given him a blessing.

“The song did the same as your touch.” Abby’s eyes were sparkling. He looked far younger than he was.

Jinu spent the rest of the day trying out, if all the songs worked or if it was just Huntrix songs. He sang Soda Pop but the effect was not nearly as good. They also tried out for how long the effect lasted. Nearly the whole day, a whole day of peace. The other boys looked like they were about to cry. Jinu watched them celebrate. He trailed his fingers over the patterns on his arms. Giving his soul to Rumi had triggered something in him. He had awakened abilities he would have only attributed to a hunter. He didn’t understand how or why but he knew that it was a blessing. A blessing he had gotten because of Rumi.

Something had happened when she had embraced his soul. Maybe a part of hers had traveled with him. Maybe in some form, they were still together. It had echoed in the songs he had sung. His fingers ran along the lines of his patterns. He wanted to touch the patterns Rumi tried so desperately to hide. He wanted to tell her that they were beautiful. He wanted to tell her that she was beautiful with all the cracks and even broken. She shone like the moon in the eternal darkness.

Soon, he would be able to see her again. Soon.

Chapter Text

Jelly was a simple water demon. He was nothing special. Water demons were among the most common and the weaker demons. So he was completely caught by surprise when Jinu, one of the older demons, had dragged him aside. He had been slightly terrified but also Jinu was pretty hot, which made it hard to put up even a protest to the kidnapping. He had not even thought that Jinu knew that he existed.
Jinu was one of the demons that had originally been human. Those demons were becoming rarer thanks to the barrier of the hunters. They had a higher standing than the underworld-born demons and at the same time were also the ones pitied the most by the other demons. For they chose this hell and were not born into it. Jinu especially used to be one of Gwi-Ma’s favourites; he used to sing praises for the Demon King but at some point he got bored of him. Being one of his favourites was a curse. Gwi-Ma’s voice never left those he favoured alone. He tormented them day and night. He only stopped when he grew bored of his toy or if they broke. Jelly was sure that Jinu let out a breath of relief when the attention moved away from him. Afterwards, Jinu remained hidden in the shadows of the underworld. Until he started slowly showing himself more.

Jelly vaguely remembered the rumors about Jinu from around ten years ago, he had kidnapped demons left and right. He had forced them to sing before dismissing them, as if they were beneath him. As if he had not been the one to kidnap them in the first place. Jelly was sure that he would be dismissed immediately since he couldn’t sing. Jinu lightly touched his shoulder and Jelly felt as if his demonic heart had stopped for a moment.

With Jinu’s touch there was sudden silence. The whispers had disappeared. He might have broken out into tears. Jinu had generously handed him a tissue.

After that it was a whirlwind and suddenly he was in the middle of a conspiracy. A conspiracy to escape Gwi-Ma. Jelly knew that he had nothing to lose. He was weak. Either a hunter would kill him in the future and he would be returned to the underworld, only for him to be permanently killed by Gwi-Ma for failing to kill a hunter. Either way, he would be dead. If Gwi-Ma were to find out about them there would be death waiting as well. But he would be able to experience quiet at Jinu’s side. So maybe it was better to die for a bit of peace. For now, he decided to trust Jinu’s words. To escape the whispers and the torment. He was a simple demon and some would call him pathetic. They had shown him the music and they had sung for him and suddenly the dark didn’t seem so dark anymore. It was like a flicker of hope had burst to life. He cried once more.

Saja Boys, that was what the group Jinu had created was called. For some reason, just seeing them dance and sing made the dark underworld seem less oppressive. Jelly had the feeling he would follow them for life.

He did not see Jinu’s sinister smile but he clearly felt it once Jinu dragged him off to teach him about the human world. It would not do, if he were to accidentally give the plants coffee instead of water. Jinu was a hard taskmaster and a perfectionist. Jelly was overwhelmed with so many new things like the internet and mobile phones. The other Saja Boys had patted his shoulder in camaraderie.

Jinu watched as Abby tried to explain a selfie to Jelly. The boys had come a long way. Not so long ago, they themselves had no idea about any human technology. Jinu still felt weirdly proud.

Hell, he had felt proud as hell when they actually went viral. He spent years planning it all out and it went well. It had backfired on him in the end. Who would have expected that he would fall in love with a hunter?

He wanted to see Rumi again. He felt like a lovesick teenager. Who would have expected that he would be yearning for her this much? He missed their banter and he missed the way her touch felt. God, he was pathetic.

“You have been sighing for the last hour,” Abby noted. He was changing into a new shirt, since the last one had popped its buttons.

“He is in love,” Romance said with a confident smirk. Before Jinu could answer, Jelly stumbled through the door. He was wearing his human disguise. He was wearing a suit. Shoulder length black hair framed a thin pale face. His eyes were large and blue. They seemed to be constantly teary.

“I found agencies that could work.” Jelly stumbled over his words in his excitement. Jinu had sent him off to do some research in a small internet cafe on the outskirts of the city so as not to catch the eyes of the hunters. Jelly had been terrified but he still went. He had stuttered through all interactions with the humans but they had just labeled him as a shy introvert. Not an uncommon sight in the cafe. Jelly handed him the papers with the information. He was quite proud of himself. He had managed to print the info, even though the printer had been a formidable foe. He had also managed to pay for it all with the money Jinu had given him. He felt really proud of himself. He flushed red when both Romance and Abby patted his head with a good job comment. He felt like he could simply fly out of the underworld.

Jinu chuckled at Jelly. For a demon, he was strangely adorable. He looked down at the three agencies that he had found. The first one was out because it was too close to the Huntrix tower. As much as Jinu wanted to be near Rumi they were still demons and he didn’t want to have to find new bandmates. The other two small agencies were good options. They were far enough away from Huntrix to not randomly stumble upon each other. They were small but were not bad off. Nollaun Entertainment Agency, also called NL Entertainment, only had girl groups and actors so far with moderate success. Maybe it was time for them to debut their first boy group.

He would have to visit them tomorrow. He would need to take Romance with him. He was the best at charming humans. He was not sure if he wanted to take all of the boys with him. When he had visited the human world for the first time with them, it had been a disaster. Mystery got stuck in a trashcan, they lost Baby in the public transport, Romance tried flirting with a married woman and Abby was nearly arrested for indecency for trying to show off his abs. Just thinking about it was giving him a headache.

It was a miracle that their debut had gone off without a hitch. Herding demons was as bad as herding cats, namely next to impossible.

A blue glow brightened the desolate building and Jinu couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across his lips.

A blue tiger emerged from the portal and on top of its head a black bird sat. The bird's many eyes looked at him. Jinu immediately reached out to run his fingers through the soft fur and through the glossy feathers. He lost track of time for a bit as he lavished his pets with much deserved attention.

“How is she doing?” He asked them softly. The bird let out a caw. Jinu had sent them to keep an eye on Rumi. If something was wrong his companions would not be this relaxed. Jinu wrapped his arms around the tiger. He had named it Derpy in a joking manner but it started chuffing at the name, so the name stuck. The bird never liked any of the names, so its name just remained bird. The big cat was chuffing as happily as usual at him and Jinu felt his worries lessen. Even when Gwi-Ma’s whispers dragged him under, his companions’ steady presence kept him afloat. He would not have survived the hundreds of years without them.

He still remembered when Derpy was tiny and the hat fit him perfectly. Now the hat belonged to the bird, who wore it with a proud and smug look.

“Jinu, we need to take the pictures for the agency.” Romance had appeared beside him. Jinu startled and promptly fell backwards with a small yelp.

“For a four hundred year old demon you are far too easily startled.” Romance laughed. Jinu felt himself flush lightly before he managed to get back on his feet and stretched. Romance walked back to the others besides him. Their shoulders kept brushing. They had no concept of personal space at all. He had sung an older Huntrix song that morning for them and he had never seen such content demons. It was weird to see. It also made him feel weirdly happy. The feeling was probably similar to the way Rumi felt when she saw the Honmoon glow.

Jelly was standing there with a camera. He had bought it in the human world. Jinu had hidden gold in the human world over the centuries. Somehow, Jelly had turned out to be pretty decent at blending in with the humans. He managed to exchange some of the gold into won.

The first few pictures were blurry as hell and they all flinched every time the flash went off. It was a miracle none of them reflexively tried to attack the camera. Mystery barked at the camera.

Romance had the bad habit of trying to flirt with the camera. All of his photos looked like he was mid-wink or mid-kiss. It took them too long to get a picture that could be used as an ID picture and for their papers for the agency. Abby was just as bad. His shirt kept bursting open without him even doing anything. Either it was some kind of demonic ability or he just kept getting shirts that were at least one size too small on purpose. Jinu lamented his bad luck. Why were the demons with the good voices so weird?

At least Baby was easy to photograph. Mystery presented a completely new problem. His hair just kept blocking the view of his face. They used hair clips and pins to hold it back but after a few breaths the hair broke free and blocked his face again. It was as if it had a life of its own. The last time, Jinu had also given up on taming that hair. It was its own kind of appeal to hide half the face but it was still frustrating. Especially since Mystery was one of the prettiest demons, even with the fangs. Jinu swore that he would fight another round with Mysteries hair with some human products. Maybe the stuff called hair gel or hair spray would be able to tame it. Maybe this time around they would actually get a stylist and Jinu wouldn’t have to be the one to do it all.

Jinu went through the motions of getting his picture taken with ease. His mind was drifting off.

Jelly was blossoming. He was taking to photography like a duck to water. His large eyes were sparkling. The other Saja Boys were treating him almost like a mascot.

“What’s the next step, leader?” Abby asked as he slung his arm over Jinu’s shoulder.

“Meeting at the agency and signing a contract. After that recording the song and shooting the music video.” Jinu took a hold of his notebook. Inside, lyrics, choreography, MV ideas and other important things were written down.
“Are we doing an full , a mini album or just a single?” Baby asked as he walked over to stop besides Jinu. He lightly grabbed ahold of Jinu’s shirt. All of them had taken to randomly touching Jinu. His singing kept the whispers at bay but according to the others touching him was better. With the singing some tiny whispers still got through but with the touch it was almost complete silence.

“A Mini Album with 3 songs probably,” Jinu said.

“Soda Pop?” Mystery asked as he looked over Jinu’s shoulder at the notebook he still held in his hand. Jinu nodded. Soda Pop would work really well as a title song.

“What other two songs?” Romance crowded into his personal space as well. Jinu had given up pushing them away. He was resigned to his fate. Who would have expected that he would turn into demon catnip after his death?

“I have four songs we can choose from,” Jinu said as he opened the notebook. The others looked over the lyrics.

“These are far darker than Soda Pop,” Abby commented after he finished reading through them.

“Soda Pop talks about eating souls but it's so well hidden. These are more blatant in their themes,” Romance commented.

“They are about the pain Gwi-Ma inflicts, aren’t they?” Mystery’s voice was subdued as he came to the correct conclusion. All of the other four songs were about how demons suffered under his rule. They were about the temptation and the slow descent into hell.

“I like them,” Baby said decisively.

“Gwi-Ma will not be happy, if he finds out,” Abby said drily.

“We are not mocking him, we are just voicing our pain,” Jinu said. He had written the songs the evening before. It was as if he had been possessed as years of pain and torment spilled onto the pages in rushed ink. Four songs were born from the pain, born from the torment of the underworld.

“And Gwi-Ma thrives on pain anyways,” Baby muttered with a discontent look on his face.

“I think we should go with Eternal Fire and Lost Voices,” Mystery said. He pointed to the two titles. The four songs he had written were called Eternal Fire, Lost Voices, Temptation and Silver Chains.

“Lost Voices definitely but I would say we should use Temptation. We can use the other two for another single,” Romance mused.

“I agree with Romance,” Baby said.

“Do you already have the melody and the arrangement figured out?” Abby asked. All four songs were good. Jinu nodded. He was forced to sing the first verses of all four songs. In the end, the decided that Temptation and Lost Voices were the best. Temptation had a bit of pop melody whereas Lost Voices was a mournful ballad. It was a clear tribute to those that were consumed by Gwi-Ma’s fire.

“Doesn’t it feel too different from Soda Pop?” Jelly asked timidly. He had moved closer as well and was looking at the songs as well. He utterly loved Soda Pop and had caught himself humming it underneath his breath.

“It's a good way to show variety,” Romance said with a shrug.

“We should practice those songs,” Abby said with a grin. They were looking forward to voicing some of the pain they had endured.

“You guys choosing practice on your own makes me so proud.” Jinu rubbed a fake tear from his cheek with a laugh. He watched as they sang the first verses. He glanced down at the notebook in his hand. He would have to copy the songs for them. He could not hand his notebook over to them. There were things in there they could not see.

Not only had he written down future events but there were also other very personal things written in these pages.

He had started writing letters to Rumi. None of the others could ever get their hands on them. They would tease him relentlessly. The letters were for Rumi’s eyes only. Not that he would ever give them to her. The words were far too flowery and drenched in yearning. Hell, he had written poems about her. Cringy poems that he had never expected to write. They were just a way to keep his longing at bay. With the words written out, it no longer felt as suffocating to be away from her.

Chapter Text

Getting to the Human world was easier than expected. They used one of the rifts during one of Gwi-Mas rampages. He didn’t even notice them slip away silently.

Jinu quietly apologised to whomever's clothes they had stolen off a washing line. They could have summoned something with demonic magic but Jinu did not trust any of the others to get the clothes right. Jinu left behind a small gold ring as compensation. After that their plan was on a roll. Soon they were sitting in an office and had signed their names with fresh ink. The whole contract took a bit to sign and without some demon magic and Romance's ridiculous charm it wouldn’t have worked. They managed to strike a deal.

Having an agency was nice because for once Jinu was not the only one in charge. They would do most creative processes on their own, with the company only dealing with the music video arrangements and publicity. They got assigned a human manager as well. A petite woman called Ha-yun. Her and Jelly were getting along surprisingly well. The two of them were discussing music video concepts with sparkling eyes.

They were currently in the recording studio. Soda Pop without vocals was blaring over the speakers. Abby was in the booth recording his part. Everyone else was napping on the couch. Only Jelly and Ha-yun were talking excitedly.

Ha-yun had been very confused by their names and Jinu had quickly jumped in and explained that they were all nicknames. He came up with a story for Jelly’s name on the spot. A childhood memory about jellyfish. As for the others he let them scramble, he had been unimpressed with their naming sense the first time around as well. At least Abby sounded halfway normal without knowing that it was just derived from abs.

Jinu was sitting in the center of the couch. Baby was using his right leg as a pillow and was deeply asleep. He was laying on top of Mytery. Mystery and Romance were leaning on his shoulders, also lightly snoring. They had done nothing but drill the two new songs for the last few days. The lyrics were engraved in their hearts by now. The songs were drenched with their real feelings. Both Ha-yun as well as Jelly had burst into tears when they sang Lost Voices for the first time.

In his hands he was holding a mobile phone, on it the latest Huntrix concert was being shown in all its glory. It was their world tour and if Jinu remembered correctly the final show was in two months. Jinu’s eyes were focused solely on Rumi. She looked far too beautiful for it to be fair. Her purple hair shimmered beneath the lights of the stage. Her eyes were glowing as she sang. Her voice was utterly perfect.

He watched as she danced flawlessly to How It's Done. The song was good but he didn’t like it nearly as much as he liked Golden and Free, the song they had sung together. Both those songs had touched something in him, even when he was following Gwi-Ma’s orders.

His fingers gently traced over the smile that was displayed on the screen. He didn’t know how to face Rumi. He had betrayed her just as he had betrayed his. He had given his soul as penance and to save her. Now that he was in the past again, none of it had happened yet. He longed to return to her side but he did not deserve it. He never deserved her but he couldn’t stay away from her.

Which led to another problem: he had no idea how to go about meeting her. He could pretend to be human and stay beside her that way. Once it was revealed that he was a demon all the trust would be gone and it would be another betrayal. He couldn’t do that to her again.

He could try to recreate their first meeting but then him and the others would be targets for the hunters. He looked at his sleeping members. It would betray them and even though they were not nearly as important to him as Rumi was, it would still be a betrayal. He was done with betrayals. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

He could only reveal himself as a demon, so that all their focus was solely on him. His members could still get caught in the cross fire but it would not be nearly as bad.
All of the options seemed unappealing to him. For now, he would focus on what was in front of him. He would try to meet Rumi as naturally as possible. He would have to play it by ear. He hated it. He liked having plans and he was terrified of things going wrong with Rumi.
He sighed for the fourth time.

“Did I do that bad?” Abby asked as he walked up to them. Jinu looked up, he hadn’t even noticed that Abby had finished his part.

“Sorry, lost in my head,” Jinu apologized. He had honestly not really paid attention to anything he had sung.

“I never thought the day would come when you would not nag us about our singing and not even pay attention.” Abby tilted his head in clear confusion.

“Are you sure you are all right?” Romance asked through a yawn. His part needed to be recorded next.

“I am fine but I just have a lot on my mind,” Jinu answered. He was kind of touched that they were looking out for each other.

“Be quiet, I wanna sleep,” Baby muttered as he turned around and burrowed his face against Jinu’s hip. Jinu sighed as he lightly patted their youngest head. Sometimes Jinu felt like he had gained four more cuddly big cats other than Derpy. All of them deadly in their own right.

The rest of the recording went off without a hitch. All of them hit the right notes and they managed to reasonably pass as humans. There was only one incident where Mystery tried to eat the plant in the corner. They barely managed to hide it. Jinu had to forcefully drag him away from the poor plant. The leaves now had teeth marks on them.

They recorded Lost Voices next and Jinu recorded his parts first. His heart burned as he sang the song. A reminder to all those lost to Gwi-Ma, both demons and souls.
His voice ached with old pain.

"A song of screams, can you hear it, can you bear it?

The lost voices of those that never return home

Every night I hear it, oh I hear it

A melody haunts my every waking hour all in the name of power

I can no longer close my eyes to the sight,

it was once so bright, so bright

A symphony of lost voices made by my own choices

Oh pain singing in my veins

Can you hear them scream

Oh pain singing in my veins"

The second verse left his lips and his heart ached. He stumbled out of the recording booth feeling sick. He had condemned thousands of souls to the underworld to be eaten by Gwi-Ma. He had done it. He was at fault; it was all his doing. His idea and his plan had condemned them all. His hands were shaking.

He had condemned them just to stop his own pain. A selfish desire. To stop the shame of leaving his sister and mother behind. The screams as they were being torn away from him as he turned away from them. It merged with the souls burning in Gwi-Ma’s grasp. It echoed in his ears like thundering drums. He clasped a hand over his mouth as bile rose up in his throat.

Jinu stumbled out of the recording room, ignoring the worried voices that called him. Somehow he managed to stumble into the bathroom. He emptied his stomach over the toilet.

He was gagging on his guilt. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t done it yet, after all he still remembered it. He still remembered the missing posters plastering the walls in a grotesque collage of pain.

“Are you all right?” Mystery had followed him into the bathroom. His voice was hesitant.

“I’m fine,” Jinu managed to get out as he heaved one last time.

“You are crying,” Mystery commented softly. Jinu touched his cheek and his fingertips touched something wet. Huh, he was really crying. He had thought that he had lost the ability to cry long ago. The tears dried up after a hundred years under Gwi-Ma. All emotions slowly died underneath Gwi-Ma’s rules.

Rumi had given them back, she had given him his emotions back. She had given him something other than shame and pain to feel. It had been beautiful, which was why it hurt all the more when Gwi-Ma had dragged him back into hell.

“You are not fine,” Mystery said. Jinu rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. Guilt would be his constant companion and he accepted it. Not even sacrificing himself for Rumi, for the safety of the world had absolved him of it. He would carry it with him always. He would not allow himself to forget. He would not forget.

“I will be fine.” Jinu tried to smile reassuringly at Mystery, who held out his hand to pull him back onto his feet. He splashed water onto his face. His reflection looked back at him and for a moment golden eyes stared at him before they returned to a gentle brown again. He was a demon, something twisted and dark. That would not change, but he would change things. He would change it, there would be no massive demon outbreak and he would not hurt Rumi. He was done being selfish, it was time to be selfless. Mystery was hovering beside him, silently radiating worry.

With new steely resolve, Jinu left the bathroom with his head held high. They made their way back to the recording room. Jinu reassured everyone that he had just eaten something bad. None of the demons in the room truly believed him, since they had not eaten anything.

Demons could eat human food but it mostly tasted bland. Spicy was the only flavour they could really taste well. It was the reason why they had struggled a bit with the hot sauce challenge.

They didn’t need human food in the same way. They didn’t even need to eat souls.

Gwi-Ma was the one that consumed the souls. He sent out demons all over the world to hunt souls, which were then offered to his altar, like humans once brought offerings before their gods. Gwi-Ma was their god. Their damnation and, for a few, salvation.

Demons knew how souls felt but most had never truly tasted one. For Gwi-Ma souls were power, the more he consumed, the brighter his flames burned. There was once a time where Gwi-Ma was not yet the king, where he was nothing but a flickering ember. It was a time where demons guarded the bridge between the afterlife and the human world. The underworld was a safe passage. There had been demons of all kinds, those that had been corrupted, the ones drenched in darkness but also kind ones, guides and immortals. There had been colours and splendor, now there was only fear, shame and pain. Those times had long since been burned away, consumed by the greed of the demon king.

There were no demons left that remembered the times where they guided the souls. It had been forgotten. Burned away like an old photograph.

It was a time long before Jinu had been condemned to the underworld. A time he had never seen. Only broken whispers of those times had reached his ears and he had deemed it as a fanciful thought of those that were still hopeful in the landscape of despair. He knew that soon those flowery thoughts would be burned away like everything bright was.

Romance was done with his part and Baby grudgingly woke up and walked into the recording booth. He still looked as if he was half asleep.

Still, he rapped his section with grace and emotion. His voice sounded raw as he growled out the words.

"They are burning now nothing but ash in the wind

Forever trapped in a hell of their own making

Forever forced to endure their own shame

Whispers of misery and malice weave a tapestry of pain

created for their own gain"

Jinu was not sure if the song was a good idea, it was a cry of pain. But it had felt good to write it all down and it felt good to watch his members bring the words to life. Baby finished his lines and sat back down beside him once more. He slumped against Jinu, who had pulled his phone out again. He was looking through Huntrix social media platforms. A selfie got uploaded at that moment. Rumi and Zoey grinned at him from the screen. It looked like they were in London.

Seeing her bright smile made all the pain worth it. This was his second chance and this time he would not cause them harm. Neither to the Huntrix girls nor to any other human.

After they were done with the recording, they fell into bed at the accommodations their new agency had designed. They had five perfectly functioning beds, but after the first night where the members had all tried to sleep on top of Jinu he had put his foot down. With the help of some demonic magic, they got rid of the bunk beds and created one large pallet where they all slept next to each other. Honestly, the close proximity was aggravating at times but all of them slept better when they could hear each others’ breaths and when they were touching Jinu. Some nights it was really crammed and Jinu had woken up more than once buried underneath. Additionally Romance was a restless sleeper and Abby spread out like a star fish in his sleep. It didn’t help that both Derpy and the Bird joined them every night.

The next day, they had a meeting with the company in regards to their mini album design. The Soda Pop part in the mini album remained in its bubblegum bright colours. The company proposed doing three different styles of photoshootings for the three different songs. For each of the songs, there would be a photocard. So three photocards for each member. The creative team of the company seemed to really enjoy the songs, so they came up with a ton of ideas. They decided on a dark sexy concept for Temptation and a fallen angel look for Lost Voices. Jinu bit his lip not to say that ‘sexy’ and the song Temptation had nothing to do with each other.

They also discussed the music video in great detail. It was simple and fresh, just as they wanted it. It would fit perfectly with the song.

In the following weeks, the Saja Boys learned how rushed and busy human idols could be. They went from one music video shoot to another, to the photo session for the photo book. After that they would have to shoot the final scenes of the MV.

They completed the photoshoot for Soda Pop and Temptation quite quickly. For Temptation, they did a simple shoot in the rain with their clothes clinging to them. The only shooting left was for Lost Voices.

The black eyeliner around their eyes made them pop as they lounged casually on a blood red couch, while the photographer shouted his approval. After the group pictures, they needed to take the individual pictures.

For the photos for Lost Voices they had all gotten dark clothes and black jewelry. Jinu was wearing a low cut dark red silk shirt. The cut out reached down to his belly button. He was wearing a black cross as an earring and black chains trailed down his chest from his throat. On his back, a pair of large black wings were strapped. Black jewels were glued to his cheeks, giving the illusion of tear tracks. A pair of horns were nestled in his hair. The horns went from black to dark red at the tips.

He was lounging on a black velvet armchair, as he was given a glass of wine. He slowly tipped it down, so that the red liquid ran down the parts of his chest that were bare. He could hear the choking noises in the audience. He sent a seductive smirk towards the camera. This was easy for him. He was a literal demon.

Romance was getting his pictures taken on the set next to his. He was wearing a black backless shirt. Silver chains ran down his bare back between the black wings that were attached to his back.

Baby was wearing a dark turquoise shirt that looked nearly black in low light. His hair was lightly curled. His bare arms shimmered in the light, they had added black jewels on his arms. They were constellations. They added freckles in the shape of dark blue stars. He had a black tail attached to his lower back with which he played in the photos.

Abby was shirtless. He had a mesh shirt at the start of the shoot but at some point he lost it and the stylists went with the topless look. They had photographed him against the red sunrise that morning with the black wings spread out. Gold dust glittered on his skin.

Mystery was wearing a low cut shirt similar to Jinu’s but unlike him, a black collar graced his neck. He was wearing a tight corset over the shirt. His nails were painted a dark violet.

They looked good and they knew it. Jinu watched amused as the other Saja Boys glowed under the praise of their human colleagues. Jelly was watching from the sidelines. He had cried once again. For a moment they had feared that he would faint at the sight of them. He was a stuttering, blushing mess for the whole shoot. Abby and Romance had teased the poor water demon relentlessly.

They did one final group shoot, where all of them had tape glued over their mouth and their hands tied together with the same tape. A clear representation of having your voice taken and your hands tied.

When the shoot was over, the photographer handed them some printed versions of their favourite pictures. Jinu looked at the pictures in his hands and wondered what Rumi would think if she were to see them.

Chapter Text

Steam had fogged up the mirror. A gentle voice was humming softly. Rumi was carefully soaking up most of the moisture in her hair with a big fluffy towel that she wrapped around her head afterwards. It was hot today so she was planning on letting it air dry. With practiced motions she rubbed lotion into her skin, before putting on her comfy pants and a simple tank top.

With a small towel she wiped away the moisture distorting the mirror's image. She let the towel drop. A few waterdrops stubbornly clung to the mirror.

Rumi was staring at her reflection. Her patterns were clear to see on her skin. The pale purple markings wrapped around her upper arm. She raised her hand and covered them. She didn’t want to see them. The patterns that marked her as other. That marked her as a half demon and that marked her as something to hide.

“Rumiiiii!” Zoey was calling her. Rumi hastily put her sweater on. Her patterns disappeared beneath the fabric. She could hear the whispers of Celine to hide them without her even being beside her. She looked at herself in the mirror one more time before she left the bathroom to join her friends.

They were currently in a hotel room in Paris. It was their second to last stop before they would return to South Korea for their final show. They had opened their tour there and they would end it there.

Mira and Zoey were lounging on the beds. A mountain of snacks were piled between them. They were mindlessly zipping through the channels at an incredible speed.

“Finally, I thought you drowned in the shower,” Mira said with a lazy drawl. A smirk stretched across her lips.

“You wish, so that you can hoard the chocolate all to yourself.” Rumi snorted as she let herself fall onto the bed.

“Guilty as charged.” Mira stuffed a whole cookie in her mouth. Rumi stuck her hand into the chips back and happily munched on them.

“If you enjoyed the bathtub, come to the bathhouse with us next time.” Zoey grinned at her. Rumi sighed. They kept insisting and Rumi had to keep turning them down. She could not show them her patterns.

“Join usss,” Mira said before she decimated the chocolate bar.

“Maybe after our tour, I will consider it.” Rumi stole one of Mira’s chips under loud protest. They found a mindless drama they could watch.

Zoey was scrolling through her phone. Every few minutes, she would show them the screen because she had found something funny. It ranged from cat videos to cover dances of their songs. Mira was also scrolling through her phone.

“Oh, NL Entertainment is bringing out a boy group,” Zoey said as she scrolled through the fan sites.

“Isn’t that actress from that agency?” Rumi asked as she pointed towards the screen where the female lead was crying pitifully.

“Yeah, she is. She is also the only one that can act in that drama. Didn’t they only have girl groups and actors?” Mira asked.

“Yeah, apparently it will be their first one. There are no teaser pictures just yet though,” Zoey said with disappointment. She liked looking at the boy groups. There was some real eye candy there.

“Maybe they will be good,” Rumi said as she took a sip of her soda. They spent the rest of the evening mindlessly browsing on their phones, commenting on the utter bullshit happening in the drama and eating all the calories they had burned off during the concert in snacks.

A small black bird was watching them through the balcony window. None of the girls saw it. So none of them saw the six eyes nor the tiny hat it was wearing. It flew away.

oOo

Jinu was struggling. Struggling to keep control of the other Saja Boys. They were currently filming the last scenes of the music video and the others were making his job as a leader harder than it needed to be. He had to keep an eye out for Mystery; he had gone a bit non verbal at the end. He didn’t need to find him barking at the staff again. It had happened once before. A half dog demon was a pain, he was mostly humanoid but sometimes the dog traits were too strong. Romance had walked off and disappeared for hours only to be found getting make up lessons from the female stylists. Abby had lost his third shirt by now. Baby had decided to take a nap underneath the stage they were filming the choreography at. Jinu was getting a headache. Abby nearly broke one of the cameras, Romance got lost searching for a toilet and Mystery nearly bit a stylist's finger. Baby was the most well behaved out of them all and that was mainly because he was constantly sleeping. During lunch, he had to stop the others from accidentally eating the wrapping of their burgers as well.

The human staff found their antics amusing and maybe even somewhat cute. Jinu kept bowing and apologizing for his members. They waved his apology off, citing that they knew how it is to be young.

“We need Baby next.” One of the staff members came over to him. Apparently, Baby had walked off to sleep somewhere again and the staff couldn’t find him. With a sigh, Jinu got up from the chair he was sitting in to search for his wayward member.

It took him a bit longer than he would have liked but he did find him. A staff member trailed behind him, filming the making of for the MV for the youtube channel. Jinu found him laying behind the couch in their changing room. Squished between the couch and the wall. Jinu pulled out his phone and took a few pictures first. He took pictures of all of the members. On the one hand, it was brilliant black mail material and on the other hand useful for their social media platforms.

“Wake up.” Jinu gently shook him.

“I’m awake,” Baby muttered but stubbornly refused to open his eyes.

“Come on, I will buy you some spicy tteokbokki later.” Jinu grinned as he offered one of Baby’s favourites. Thanks to the spice, they were able to taste it. Baby adored anything spicy.

“.... I might need some help,” Baby admitted reluctantly. Jinu arched an eyebrow in question.

“I’m stuck.” He confessed. Even his ears were bright red. Jinu couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him.

He was still snickering when Abby came to help pull Baby out of the predicament he had found himself in. It had been a while since he had last laughed. He watched in amusement as Abby teased Baby. They made their way back towards the stage.

Jinu planned on following after he took a sip of one of the soda’s in the fridge. He had just taken one out when the door to the waiting room burst open. Jelly was standing there, his human disguise was flickering and his demonic patterns were burning an angry red.

“H-he is calling,” Jelly managed to stutter out. Gwi-Ma was calling his demons. He had found out that his voice could not reach them. Jelly himself was flickering, he was being pulled into the underworld.

Jinu crossed the room in two large strides. He grabbed a hold of Jelly’s shoulders. The skin beneath his hands was burning hot. Jinu suppressed the wince. Just for a moment when he touched Jelly, he was able to hear the call before his touch banished it. The patterns turned to their normal pale purple. Jelly let out a sigh of relief as he slumped against Jinu, who looked at his hands in wonder. He could really stop Gwi-Ma from summoning them.

“We need to check on the others,” Jelly stuttered out after a moment. His large watery eyes were filled with worry.

They ran back towards the stage. Jelly was keeping close by holding onto the edge of his shirt. He could make out worried voices. The staff was surrounding the stage, Jinu pushed people aside to get to the front. His four members were in the center of the stage surrounding a collapsed Romance. He was as pale as snow and he was flickering. The others also looked pale but they seemed to be able to hold out. Jinu hastened to their side.

“Gwi-Ma has been calling all morning,” Abby informed him. The song Jinu had sung them this morning and the constant physical contact had prevented the summoning from reaching them. It was now nearly ten at night, of course the effects were lessening. Jinu grabbed a hold of Romance's shoulder before he opened his mouth and started to sing.

It was one of the first songs Huntrix had released. By now, it was no longer one of their best songs but still it was a good one. Jinu liked it. It was a song filled with hope.

The tension in the other Saja Boys lessened with each word he sang. Soon, Romance managed to sit back up. The last note sounded and with it relief spread. Jinu gave a sign to the staff that everything was all right and that they needed a moment to themselves.

“I can’t go back.” Romance shuddered. He had wrapped his arms around himself. He was still pale. The voice of Gwi-Ma had rattled him once again.

“We can’t go back,” Abby amended with a rueful smile.

“Whatever your plan is, Jinu, we are all in,” Mystery added after a moment. Jinu felt like he had no plan at all. He just knew that he wanted to return to Rumi’s side, he wanted his members to live and that he wanted to get rid of Gwi-Ma. Maybe his voice and his touch were the key to unlocking all three.

“We are all in, once you have a plan,” Baby said with a sigh.

“Was it that obvious that I don’t have one at the moment?” Jinu asked with a rueful laugh.

“You do like your plans and you are currently, as the human saying goes, flying by the seat of your pants,” Romance commented with a snicker. He had taken to watching dramas in the evening. The cheesy kind with the bad acting.

“And by your need to be close to the hunter,” Mystery added. Jinu started coughing, in his surprise, the air had gone down the wrong way.

“I-I have no idea what you are talking about,” Jinu stuttered out loud.

“You have been mooning over that purple-haired huntress since we came to the human world,” Abby said with a snort.

“You keep caressing her pictures, it's pretty obvious.” Baby smirked as he shrugged with his shoulders.

“The only thing missing is that you start writing cringy poetry about her.” Abby grinned broadly at him. Jinu felt himself flush red. The others immediately noticed that he had given himself away.

“Oh, too late. The cringy poetry seems to have already been written.” Romance smirked.

“That’s why he no longer lets us look at his notebook,” Mystery concluded with a laugh.

“Oh?” Both Baby and Abby were wearing truly demonic grins. Jinu could already see that they would attempt to steal it. They could never see the poetry he had written. He needed to refocus their attention elsewhere.

“You guys are not mad?” Jinu asked softly. He had expected them to condemn him for falling for his mortal enemy. Or maybe that was nothing but a memory of Gwi-Ma’s voice whispering in his ear that he was betraying them again.

“It is not ideal and also not very demonic of you,” Mystery said with a shrug.

“As long as you don’t get yourself or us killed I don’t care,” Baby shrugged with his shoulder.

“As long as she doesn’t harm you, I can come to like her,” Jelly said softly. He had grabbed some refreshments for them while they talked.

“We could maybe even form an alliance to take Gwi-Ma down,” Romance said as he leaned against Jinu.

“That is an idea.” Abby grinned, “can you imagine demons and hunters fighting side by side?”

Jinu felt his heart stumble. A picture was forming in his head of Rumi and him fighting side by side. It might not be impossible to form an alliance. Maybe that's how he could approach Rumi. He could offer her information on Gwi-Ma.

“We need to finish the shooting,” Mystery said. The staff had given them some space but he could see that they were becoming restless. They barely managed to laugh off the fact that Romance was flickering, citing a malfunction with some strobe lights.

They stood back up and let the chaos of Gwi-Ma’s call disappear. It was not something they could dwell on right now. Later, once they were in their own living quarters they would allow themselves to fall apart for a moment, but for now they had a job to do. For now, they needed to focus on the shoot.

Chapter Text

Jinu was holding what he currently considered to be his holy grail. A ticket to the Huntrix concert, to the final one of the world tour. Ha-yun was standing in front of him with her chest puffed out, clearly very proud of herself.

“How did you get these?” Jinu asked, the other members snickered at the awe in his voice.

“They are sold out everywhere,” Jinu added. He could see Rumi. Truly see her in flesh and blood. No screen and no miles between them. She wouldn’t know him but that didn’t matter. He was happy to see her from afar.

“I was able to call in some favours,” Ha-yun said smugly. Jelly looked at her with clear admiration. He had tried, together with the other members, to get tickets but they had all failed.

“Thank you,” Jinu breathed out and he couldn’t help himself, he hugged her. Ha-yun let out a squeak of surprise before she lightly patted his shoulder. He released her after a moment, still in awe that he got tickets.

“No fair, we also want a Jinu hug!” Abby protested. Before Jinu could stop it, four pairs of arms wrapped around him and squeezed tight. Jinu let out a strangled grunt. It was a pain to be demon-catnip. At least Jelly asked before he touched him, the others just did as they wanted. He was the oldest and yet they did not respect him at all.

Jinu somehow managed to extract himself from the demon tangle.

“I sadly only managed to get one ticket for you,” Ha-yun said with an apologetic smile.

“It's fine, I doubt that any of the members want to join me,” Jinu said with a shrug. The others nodded emphatically. They did not want to be on the hunters’ radar. Even if the crowd would be able to be a buffer, it was still too risky for them.
“Your debut is tonight, so consider the concert as a treat.” Ha-yun grinned as she lightly slapped his shoulder.

“We are going to do a live stream for the debut, you will be performing all three songs and afterwards there will be a small Q&A.” Ha-yun was handing out their schedule.

Tomorrow they would have their first performance on the show and after that a VLive was scheduled to greet their fans for the first time. Promotion time would keep them busy for the next eight to ten weeks. Jelly and Ha-yun had also written some variety shows but they would only hear if they got a part after their debut went live.

The dance practice and the making of would be released in a few days to keep the hype going. They had been doing nothing but practice in the last days.

The last time, they had heavily relied on demonic magic and on the power Gwi-Ma had lent for their cause. He had whispered in the fans ears, it was thanks to those whispers that the Saja Boys had exploded onto the scene last time. This time it would be their own work.

They followed Ha-yun and Jelly to the concert hall. Jinu was nervous. Hell, all of them were nervous. They huddled together one last time before they stepped onto the stage.

“No patterns and no teleportation,” Jinu said one last time.

“And no throwing hearts!” He said with a pointed look. He did not need more manifested hearts like Romance had thrown around the first time. Romance pouted at the words.

“Let’s get this show on the road!” Abby grinned.

“Fighting!” The others echoed. They were wearing the same clothes for Soda Pop as they had in their last life. The pastel colours were familiar but they still felt foreign on his skin. He had never thought he would wear something like this again.

They were ushered onto the stage, and with a thumbs up their live stream had started. They smoothly danced the choreography. Not one of them made a single mistake.

“We are the Saja Boys!” They introduced themselves with a deep bow after they finished Soda Pop. Baby made a roaring motion with a grin. Abby was leaning on Jinu again.

“We are going to perform Temptation and Lost Voices next, beforehand one of our staff is going to collect questions from the live stream for later,” Jinu explained as one of the staff members took to the stage and directed the live chat.

During that time, the Saja Boys were rushed into their changing room. They had to change outfits, the outfit for Soda Pop did not match either Temptation nor Lost voices. Black clothes were laid out for them. After they were dressed, leather harnesses and the other accessories were added. Their eyes were quickly lined with black eyeliner to make them stand out even more. They were quickly ushered back onto the stage.

They had choreographed a dance for Temptation as well. The steps were not nearly as practiced as the steps for Soda Pop were but they still executed them flawlessly. It was freeing to sing of the whispers of temptation Gwi-Ma had lured them with. The whispers that kept them on a tight leash.

Lost Voices was freeing and painful. The words were haunting and the pain was a memory too fresh to leave them unaffected. Their voices were raw and true. There was not a note of falsehood in their entire performance. Jinu had seen some of the sound assistants and camera crew dab their eyes.

After the song, they gulped down their water to get a moment to recalibrate themselves. Lost Voices would always be a bit harder to sing, because it was the truth.

“We have ten questions here for the Q&A,” Jinu said as he held out the card with the questions one of the staff had given them.

“First question, how long have the members known each other?” Jinu read out aloud. He internally prayed that the members had not forgotten that human years and demon years had a different time frame.

“Mhmm, 3 years but sometimes it feels as if we have known each other for a hundred years,” Abby answered with a grin. Jinu resisted the urge to kick his shin. Jinu handed the question card to Romance.

“Who is most likely to fall asleep anywhere?” Romance read.

“Baby,” they chorused.

“Who is the mother hen in the group?” Romance continued with a smirk.

“Jinu,” everyone answered with a snicker. Jinu playfully rolled his eyes.

“If you could take one thing with you onto a deserted island what would it be?” Baby read out loud. Romance had handed the question card to him.

“Jinu,” they said at once. Jinu barely suppressed the cough that wanted to escape his lips.

“Why me?” He muttered but he knew the answer: He was their anti-Gwi-Ma protective talisman.

“You are our leader, we wouldn’t be able to function without you,” Abby said with a roll of his eyes.

“We would starve without you,” Mystery said softly.

“None of us know how to use a stove, nor an oven,” Baby said with a sage nod.

“You just want a cook,” Jinu said with a theatrical groan. The others just shrugged in answer.

“I could try cooking again,” Romance mused out loud.

“Nope, you are banned, you managed to set the fridge on fire.” Jinu said immediately. Romance had a complete kitchen ban. Not even his little toe was allowed in the kitchen.

“Do any of you have tattoos?” Mystery read the next question. They blinked, flummoxed for a moment. They all had patterns, so they all kind of had tattoos.

“Wouldn’t you guys like to know?” Abby grinned, stretching suggestively. Jinu barely stopped himself from groaning.

“Jinu has one,” Baby said with a grin. Jinu glared at him.

“A really big one,” Romance added with a chuckle.

“Show it to them!” Abby said as he leapt towards Jinu.

“I am not taking my shirt off!” Jinu protested as he evaded Abby's grabby hands. They started to scuffle around. Abby trying to grab his shirt and Jinu valiantly trying to fend him off. Suddenly, Mystery appeared and grabbed the back of his shirt, raising it up. The camera was able to see the bottom edges of a tiger tattoo in grey scale. It looked big. Jinu managed to escape his members.

“He got a really big tiger tattoo on his back.” Baby grinned. He had gotten the tattoo a month ago on a whim and the stripes of the tiger aligned with the demonic pattern on his back. It gave the tiger the illusion that it was alive. It was a way of reclaiming his skin. A way to be adorned with something other than Gwi-Ma’s demonic marks.

“Don’t let his goodie-two-shoes visage fool you, he is far from innocent,” Abby said. Jinu glared at him before he grabbed his water bottle. Before Abby could react Jinu emptied the whole bottle over his head.

Abby looked like a buff drenched rat. The others started howling with laughter.

“That's for trying to undress me, don’t think you are off the hook, Mystery, I will get my revenge.” Jinu grinned smugly, as he made a motion with his hands that he was watching him.

“Onto the next question before Mystery gets murdered. Who can keep a plant alive the longest?” Baby continued as if nothing had happened.

“No idea,” Jinu answered with a shrug.

“I don’t think any of us ever had a plant?” Romance asked, the other members agreed.

“We do however know that plants do not like coffee,” Mystery said. Romance let out a groan.

“There was this incident, where Romance mistook our manager's cactus for a coffee cup at four am,” Baby explained, he was enjoying airing the members dirty laundry out.

“The cactus was in a coffee cup and it was dark!” Romance protested loudly.

“Which one of you is the least likely to be recognized by fans out in public?”

“Mhmm, Jinu or Mystery,” Romance said.

“No one has seen Mystery’s face, so he could potentially go undercover by revealing his face,” Abby mused out loud.

“Who is the most troublesome member to look after?” Baby read that question.

“All of them,” Jinu answered with a groan.

“Hey, we are not that bad!” Abby protested.

“You keep losing your shirts, Baby keeps falling asleep everywhere, Romance keeps getting lost and Mystery ….. Mystery is a category of its own,” Jinu complained loudly.

“Hell, he tried to eat a burger with the wrapping not once but twice!” Jinu shook his head in clear exasperation.

“Well, you are also troublesome!” Baby protested.

“Me? I am an angel,” Jinu answered with a laugh.

“Jinu has the problem that he wants to shoulder everything alone and that he forgets to take care of himself.” Mystery judged.

Jinu opened his mouth to protest but stopped at the last moment. Because it was kind of true.
He was just as bad as Rumi. They were two peas in a pod.

“With which artist would you like to collaborate in the future?” Jinu read the question.

“Well, honestly I don’t know,” Abby said.

“As a whole group we don’t really know, there are so many good artists out there with whom it would be an honor to sing together,” Romance answered smoothly.

“We however know who Jinu would pick,” Baby smirked at their leader.

“Huntrix,” Mystery said dryly.

“This one here, that idol, is a hardcore Huntrix fan,” Abby explained. Jinu felt himself flush red.

“He knows all their songs,” Baby added.

“And when we say all their songs, we really mean all their songs.” Romance grinned broadly.

“Hell, even we know all of their songs, thanks to him. He plays and sings nothing else in his free time,” Romance said as he gently knocked their shoulders together.

“We even know who his bias is,” Abby said as he waggled his eyebrows. Mystery opened his mouth to spill Rumi’s name. Jinu leaped out of his seat and slapped his hand over Mystery’s mouth.

“Don’t you dare!” He hissed at him.

“Enough, let’s move on to the next question,” Jinu hastily tried to change the topic. The other members smirked like the cat that caught the canary. He silently prayed that Rumi never saw the live stream. Jinu ignored his flushed face and continued with the next question.

The following question was quite harmless. It was simply about their favourite food which they could answer comfortably. They all liked spicy food even though they were not at the same level as Baby.

The rest of the questions flew by at an impressive speed. Soon, they finished the live stream. Their agency was very satisfied with their whole performance. The Saja Boys fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. They were exhausted but the whirlwind was only just starting.

Their Q&A got shared all over social media. Fans were creating and sharing memes made from their interactions. Their debut album was getting a ton of love and people were raving about all three songs. They were praising the duality of the songs. They did not notice any of that. Instead they were gently snoring, laying half on top of each other.

Chapter Text

The last notes of How It’s Done echoed across the packed stadium. Rumi stood in the center of the stage, Mira and Zoey flanking her. The fans were screaming. Their lightsticks created an ocean of light. The Honmoon glittered in shades of blue. Sparks of gold danced along some of it. Rumi was feeling almost giddy. They were so close to a golden Honmoon. So close to sealing the demons and Gwi-Ma forever.

Under thunderous applause, they greeted their fans. They bowed deeply as an apology for their delay before they started to sing the next song. The Honmoon pulsed as they sang. Rumi looked over it with a broad smile on her lips. The shimmers of gold had become more and more frequent during their last few concerts. Soon, they would reach the golden Honmoon, soon she would be free of the patterns on her skin.

She retreated to the back of the stage to let Mira shine during her solo part. Zoey waved to her with a giddy laugh from the other side of the stage. The backup dancers swarmed onto the stage to go wild to the dance section of the song. Rumi watched as the Honmoon reacted to their fans and to their singing. She gazed over the stadium only to freeze when she caught sight of something else.

On the right side of the stage, nearly in the first row the Honmoon didn’t shimmer blue nor gold. It was a rainbow of colour that greeted her. It glistened and glowed. She had never seen the Honmoon in that colour. She hadn’t even known that it could exist.

Rumi nearly missed her cue to get back to the front of the stage. She belted out her notes with power, the Honmoon pulsed in answer. Her eyes never left the corner where the Honmoon flared in new colours.

She moved closer to the edge of the stage, closer to the colours that seemed to be calling for her. Rumi could make out that the Honmoon shimmered like that just over one person. A guy that was wearing a hat and a mask to hide their identity. She couldn’t make out specific features. The Honmoon seemed to almost hug him. Pulses of colour spread from him like rippling waves.

Each time Rumi sang, the colours seemed to brighten. When Zoey or Mira sang, it reacted as well but not nearly as strongly. She was fascinated. That person was seemingly loved by the Honmoon. It was behaving like a purring cat rubbing against their favourite person.

The rest of the concert went well. The stadium was thrumming with energy. Through it all, the rainbow Honmoon section remained. Rumi’s gaze was drawn to it time and time again. It was like a beacon.

The metaphorical curtain fell to a close. They left the stage under thunderous applause.

“Did you see the Honmoon?” Rumi asked with a grin.

“There were so many specks of gold.” Zoey was bubbling over with joy.

“Finally!” Mira exclaimed as she threw her arms around both of them.

“We are so close,” Rumi whispered.

“Did any of you see the rainbow section?” Rumi asked after a moment. They were standing in an elevator bringing them below the stage.

“Rainbow section? Do you mean the fans in the rainbow fit?” Mira asked with a frown, trying to recall if she had seen another rainbow section.

“I meant the Honmoon,” Rumi answered, it seemed as if the others hadn’t seen what she had.

“I only saw the golden glimmers sometimes,” Zoey said with a shrug.

“Maybe it was a trick of the light,” Rumi said as she waved her hand.

“The golden Honmoon is so close!” Zoey said with a laugh.

“Yess!” Mira exclaimed. Rumi joined in on their celebration. Her voice stuttered for a moment and she quickly hid it with a cough. She waved off the worried voices of her friends.

Her patterns were spreading. They would soon be crawling up her throat. They needed to turn the Honmoon golden so that she would finally be free of the marks.

Bobby was enthusiastically talking with them. Rumi sipped her water. They were talking about their two week break. The chants of ‘couch’ were rising. Rumi felt a twinge of guilt, there would be no two weeks of vacation for them. Time was running out. The patterns were spreading so much faster than when she had been young. They needed to turn the Honmoon gold now. Once they reached their apartment, Rumi was planning on releasing their next single.

They quickly changed into comfortable clothes before they were escorted to their cars and Zoey and Mira were still enthusiastically talking about all the things they would do during break. Rumi watched them with an indulgent smile. Soon, she would be able to go to the bathhouse with them, soon all the hiding would be over. Soon, the golden Honmoon would shine brightly and Rumi would be free.

Bobby took the role of the designated driver. Rumi took the seat in the front and Zoey and Mira stumbled into the back. The black tinted windows made sure that no fans were able to see who was inside. They exited through the backdoor.

Rumi watched the trees go by as they drove down an avenue. Zoey and Mira were snoring in the backseat. Rumi had quickly taken out her cell phone and taken a ton of pictures of the two of them slumped together. Bobby whispered to her that she better not post it on any of their social media. He was grinning at her.

“Not for the public, just blackmail material.” Rumi grinned. Mira had even started to lightly snore, Rumi suppressed her chuckles.

She returned her focus to the outside world. The Honmoon glowed, the lines of the barrier all the brighter in the dark of the night. A ripple of colour appeared as they drove past a park near their building. A hotteok vendor stood at the entrance.

“Bobby, stop the car please,” Rumi said decisively.

“Why?” Bobby asked, but dutifully took one of the parking spaces at the side of the road.

“I saw a hotteok vendor over there, I am gonna grab some for us,” Rumi said as she grabbed a hat and face mask from the car's front compartment.

“I can do it for you,” Bobby protested.

“It's fine Bobby, you can drive them home. I will walk those few meters.” Rumi insisted. Bobby protested quietly, so as not to wake the other two.

“It's not far, and I will be completely safe,” Rumi continued. Bobby grumbled but relented. He knew just how stubborn his girls were.

“Fine, but be careful and keep your phone on you,” he said resignedly. Celine had insisted that the girls were all taught self defense and thus hardly ever needed bodyguards but it still didn’t feel good for him. The body guards were mostly needed for crowd control. Mira had already beaten a sasaeng so badly once that they needed stitches. it had been a pain to sweep that under the rug.

“I will be fine, see you tomorrow Bobby,” Rumi said with a small smile. She stepped out of the car after adjusting her hat and her mask. She was careful not to slam the door loudly, she didn’t want to wake them up.

She waved as Bobby drove away. She took a deep breath and turned towards the park where ripples of colour spread out into the Honmoon. A few street lights flickered, otherwise the park was dipped in darkness.
Leaves rustled in the wind. She could hear someone sing. As if following a siren’s song she followed the haunting melody into the dark.

There in the distance someone was sitting on a bench beneath a street light at the edge of a small pond. He was completely alone, just a few moths danced beneath the glow of the fluorescent light. The dark water reflected the light like a distorted mirror.

Besides him on the bench a familiar hat and mask were laying. It must be the same person she had noticed at the concert. He was leaning against the bench with his head hanging forward. It was shadowed, so she was unable to see his face. He was singing. The haunting voice she had heard since she entered the park was him.

Why does it feel right every time I let you in?

Why does it feel like I can tell you anything?

We can't fix it, if we never face it

What if we find a way to escape it?

The words were haunting and his voice was utterly beautiful. It was warm and gentle but also sorrowful. Something beneath her ribs ached at his voice. The Honmoon around him shimmered white with some sparks of rainbow colours in between.

The last note echoed in the quiet night. It felt as if the song was missing another voice, another person. She had never truly understood what her fans had meant when they said that her voice moved them to tears. Her eyes were burning and she sniffled quietly. Slowly, as if she was in a trance she moved closer, accidentally stepping on a twig.

Rumi suppressed the noise that wanted to come out of her mouth and quickly hid behind a tree before he noticed her. His head turned into her direction and Rumi slowly peeked around the tree. She felt her heart give a little squeeze.

Whoever the singer was, he was absolutely gorgeous. It was as if someone had drawn the man of her dreams and had breathed him to life. For a moment, Rumi couldn’t help herself. She just stared at him in awe.

“Ah hell, this is impossible.” The singer groaned and let his face fall into his hands. His shoulders were trembling. When he raised his head again Rumi noticed that he had been crying. His hands were shaking.

She was about to move closer to maybe offer some form of comfort when she noticed that his posture shifted. He was suddenly sitting straight and the shaking of his hands had disappeared. The ground at the edge of the pond in front of him was glowing red. A portal to the underworld, which meant demons.

Rumi cursed quietly under her breath. Her sword appeared in her hands. Greenish arms with claws came out of the pit causing gauges in the earth. A water demon. She needed to get the singer out of there. A demon with burning red patterns slowly rose from the pit. Its eyes were blood red as well.

The singer was staring at it unflinchingly. The demon's eyes seemed to hold an unnatural fire in them.

“Jinu, I have been searching for you.” A rotten voice came out of the demon's mouth. It sounded as if a hundred voices spoke at once.

“Gwi-Ma, what an honor,” The singer called Jinu answered in a bored drawl. Rumi froze at the words. That demon was Gwi-Ma. Her heartbeat sounded like a banging drum. Her hands tightened around her sword.

She watched the singer confronted the King of demons. Her feet were rooted to the ground. Dark purple patterns started to appear on his skin. Warm brown eyes turned into bright gold. The singer was no civilian, he was a demon. For a moment, she wondered if this is what her first heartbreak would be like. She had liked his voice and his looks.

She quickly calculated her odds against them in her head. She didn’t know how powerful Gwi-Ma was in this form. She would take her chance as soon as she noticed a weakness. As soon as one of her enemies was careless she would strike.

“It must be the first time in centuries that you have been to the surface,” Jinu drawled. He showed none of the deference Rumi had expected him to show towards his king.

“I had forgotten that you can possess demons, after all you can see through our eyes,” The singer continued on. Rumi filed the information away carefully.

“Did you think you could escape me?” The demon who was seemingly possessed by Gwi-Ma was laughing. It was a horrible sound.

“You hold no power over me anymore,” Jinu said as he slowly got up from the bench. She could see that his hands were trembling before he tightened them into fists.

“No one that has fallen into my grasp can escape me.” Gwi-Ma howled.

“I already escaped and I am not the only one.” Jinu was taunting Gwi-Ma. Rumi had wanted to attack the moment the demon appeared, but for now she was hiding in the shadows. Her heart was beating out of her chest.

“I will drag you back to the underworld.” Gwi-Ma threatened.

“Try.” Jinu growled back. In two strides he was in front of the demon, He placed his hand right on top of his head. A horrible shriek resounded across the park. Jinu opened his mouth. He had started to sing once more. A haunting melody spread out.

“And will he let the fire go out?

Is this the end of him now

Dying king with a crumbling crown

Will he let the fire go out?”

His voice sounded so gentle. The Honmoon was reacting to his singing, it was pulsing brightly as if it was happy. The barrier was pressing down onto the demon with more and more force. It was struggling and howling.

“What did you do?!” Gwi-Ma shrieked. The patterns on the demon were fluctuating wildly.

“I gave away my soul to you once,” Jinu said. His touch and his voice were harming Gwi-Ma. Rumi’s sword was slowly lowering. She was witnessing internal conflict between demons. She had not thought that that was even possible. She had thought that all demons followed Gwi-Ma’s orders as absolutes.

“I got it back and gave it to someone better.” Jinu grinned wickedly and suddenly there was quiet once more. The patterns on the demon's skin turned a pale lavender and Jinu slowly pulled his hand back.

“H-he is gone,” the demon that was left behind stuttered out. Rumi blinked in confusion as big fat tears started to run down the demon's face. He stumbled forward and hugged Jinu.

Rumi rubbed her eyes. At this point, she was really considering the fact that she must be hallucinating.

“It’s quiet and I cannot hear his voice.” The demon was rubbing his face into Jinu’s shirt, who was wearing an awkward smile and lightly patting the demon on the back.

“It’s only going to be temporary.” Jinu confessed with a guilty wince.

“I don’t care, this is more than I thought was possible.” The demon was still crying.

“He will kill you for his failure to bring me back,” Jinu said and he sounded sad about it. A demon that sounded sad.

“He will kill us all one day anyways.” The demon shrugged and Jinu looked even sadder. Which was pulling at Rumi’s heartstrings. His eyes were beautiful, even as a demon. It was the first time she had thought someone was beautiful even in their demon form. Jinu took a deep breath and started to rummage through his pockets until he found what he was looking for.

He pulled out a pen and grabbed the notebook that was laying on the bench.

“Go to that address, hide there. Jelly will help you out,” Jinu said as he scribbled something on a page he had ripped out. The demon was crying again and hugging Jinu before he disappeared in a cloud of red smoke. As soon as he disappeared, Jinu collapsed onto the ground. He was shaking all over.

“I did it!” He was laughing. There were tears in his eyes once more. A melody suddenly rose from somewhere. It was the melody of How It’s Done. Jinu pulled out a mobile from his pocket. A demon had a hunter's song as their ringtone. Rumi’s world was getting destroyed and reshaped in front of her very eyes.

“Yes?” Jinu answered the phone with ease. He had no problems with technology it seemed, which was weird, all demons she had encountered didn’t know how anything in the human world worked. Maybe he was a half demon like her. Whatever distress had been on his face before was suddenly masterfully hidden.

“I know I am late, I just had a wonderful encounter with Gwi-Ma.” Jinu sighed. Even from her hiding spot, Rumi could hear the shriek on the other side of the phone. Jinu held the phone away from his ear with a wince.

“Calm down, Jelly. Stop crying please. I am fine, I promise.” Jinu tried to reassure the person on the other end of the line but it didn’t seem to be working.

“I will be there soon. Why did you originally call me?” Jinu was clearly trying to distract the caller.

“Tie him to a chair. I have clearly said that he is not allowed in the kitchen. What did he set on fire this time?” Jinu sounded dead tired all of a sudden.

“Right, the microwave. Great. I will buy a new one tomorrow. Don’t let Abby try to fix it, no matter what he says he is not a mechanic.” Jinu grumbled. He grabbed the stuff that was laying on the bench.

“I saw that there is a hotteok vendor near the entrance of the park, I will bring some as an apology.” Jinu promised.

“See you soon.” He hung up the phone and took a deep breath. The demonic patterns disappeared as if they had never been there and his golden eyes turned to the warm brown they had been when he had been singing.

Rumi slowly trailed after him. She kept a safe distance, so that he wouldn’t notice her. Her mind was in utter turmoil. She felt as if a hurricane was inside of her. There seemed to be an internal conflict among demons. They might be able to make use of it. Her eyes followed Jinu’s back as he politely ordered some hotteok at the vendors. Maybe there were good demons out there? 

With a back of his steaming prizes in his hands, Jinu walked away from the vendor. He rounded the corner next to an office building. Rumi followed after him in a hurry but by the time she rounded the corner he had disappeared as if he was never there. He must have used some form of demonic teleportation.

Almost on autopilot, she slowly made her way back to the vendor and bought some for her and her friends. Her mind was in utter turmoil and her heart was beating like a drum. Whatever she had witnessed tonight would surely change what was to come.

Chapter Text

Jinu had thought that he would have a peaceful evening. He had looked forward to the concert for weeks. It was what kept him going throughout all the promotions. He had even once again slept overnight in a sleeping bag on the sidewalk. He had felt like a giant caterpillar.

Seeing Rumi on the stage had been like a miracle. She was really there and he was really hearing her voice. He had missed her. God, his heart had felt like it was going to burst seeing her smiling. She was always beautiful but when she was singing she was something special. She looked absolutely radiant when she was singing, like a goddess descending onto earth.

The concert had been beautiful and he had sung along to every song.

Seeing her had also brought forth a heartbreak he hadn’t known he was carrying. She didn’t remember him. Their time together was gone, as if it had never happened. He hadn’t realized until he had seen her in the flesh that he was mourning her. He missed her so much. He missed the banter and the connection.

Once the concert had been over, he had retreated to a park close to the Huntrix building. He had needed a moment to cry and to let out all the things he was feeling. The other Saja Boys wouldn’t truly understand, even when they offered their support. He couldn’t help but sing Free. It didn’t feel the same without her and thus he had cried even more. He was truly pathetic for a demon.

Of course, it was at that moment that Gwi-Ma had finally managed to hunt him down. He had possessed another demon to reach him. The Honmoon prevented Gwi-Ma from even touching the surface with a single ember. The confrontation had been freeing. His touch could even drive Gwi-Ma out of a demon he was possessing. Jinu looked at his hands in wonder. Whatever had happened when he had given Rumi his soul, was a miracle.

His huntress was a miracle herself. It was to be expected that giving her his soul would create something new and unprecedented.

“Jinu, we have to go.” He looked up from his phone. He was watching the new MV Huntrix had dropped. It was called Golden. Things were getting started. They were currently on their way to the street performance where they had encountered the Huntrix girls last time.

Abby had called him. Jinu got up from the bench he had been waiting on.

“You guys got this!” Jelly sent them a thumbs up. He was holding a camera, ready to take as many shots of them as possible. Jelly had become the head of their fanclub and was also running a fansite. He was one of their managers but at heart he was also their biggest fan. It was cute.

Jinu took a deep breath, he would finally see Rumi again today. He was nervous and elated. He would do his best during this performance.

oOo

Rumi was questioning herself and her friends. They had just left the doctor, who was most likely a scammer. Why did she listen to Zoey? Oh well, it was too late now. She had a large cardboard box full of the tonics in her hands. Zoey was whistling contentedly beside her.

“Oh fuck, fans!” Mira exclaimed as shadows from around the corner came closer. Zoey let out a squeak of surprise. They scrambled to hide behind her. The drawstrings of her hood were tightened, so that not even a strand of her purple hair could be seen.

“Just keep walking like a normal person,” Zoey whispered.

“We look like total weirdos.” Rumi hissed back.

“Better than getting swarmed by fans!” Mira gently nudged her forward. Rumi waddled forward with her heavy load.

Four guys walked around the corner and Rumi let out a groan. Her friends were drooling at the hot guys. Her friends were worse than embarrassing. One of the guys' shirts popped open, revealing sculpted abs and her friends let out noises like dying kettles. Their heart eyes had become smoldering. Rumi decided that it was best that she pretended not to know them at all.
Just as she decided to walk forward, a fifth guy appeared behind them.

Jet black hair that moved as if in slow motion. The wind seemed to be caressing his face. His eyes were a warm brown. He was gorgeous. She felt nearly blinded. Her Heart skipped a beat. Her mouth fell open in shock. She knew that face. She stared at him with wide eyes. She had not expected to see him again. It was the guy she had encountered in the park. He was a demon. A hot demon. A demon that had defied Gwi-Ma. If she remembered correctly, Gwi-Ma had called him Jinu.

She had not talked to Zoey and Mira about it, yet. She feared that it was all her imagination. That night she had slept barely a wink, because she had been so occupied by what she had seen. It hadn’t felt real and seeing him here beneath the bright light of the afternoon sun also felt surreal.

Jinu walked past her, so closely that their shoulders brushed. He was radiating heat like a warm campfire. Rumi barely suppressed the noise that wanted to brush past her lips. The sudden contact startled her and she tripped over her own two feet. With a crash, she and her box tumbled onto the floor.

Her face burned in embarrassment, she was a hunter, they were athletic and nimble, not clumsy just because a hot guy, or rather demon, had stepped too close to her. She looked up and he was looking down at her.

“Watch where you're going,” he drawled with a smirk. His eyes seemed to sparkle. His tone might have seemed rude but he still held out his hand to help her back onto her feet. Hesitantly, she laid her own hand into his. At their touch, it felt like a spark of electricity had shot through her. His fingers wrapped around her own. His touch was gentle. He pulled her back to her feet.

Jinu gently reached out with his other hand and dusted off her shoulder. Rumi felt like her cheeks were on fire. A mantra of ‘He is a demon,’ repeated in her head but the words didn’t help against the smile he sent her.

“Are you all right?” He asked with a small frown as she continued to stare at him with wide eyes.

“Me?! I, ah, I’m f-fine!” Her voice came out high and squeaky. She was so embarrassed that she wished that lightning would just strike her down, or better yet, that the ground would open up and just swallow her whole. A loud crunching noise interrupted her internal mortification.

“W-where on earth did you guys get popcorn from?!” Rumi exclaimed. Zoey and Mira were holding a small bucket of popcorn munching away. They pointed to the four guys that were also holding popcorn in their hands.

“Go on, ignore us,” the guy with the green hair said with a smirk. He threw a kennel up and caught it with his mouth.

“This is better than the last drama we watched.” Zoey grinned broadly. The guy whose face was covered by his hair nodded seriously. The one with the long red hair was pretending to swoon.

“Totally,” Mira drawled out with a smirk.

“Seriously?!” Jinu said around a groan.

“You guys were the ones ignoring our existence.” The one with the bust open shirt was saying with a laugh. Both Mira and Zoey were still eying his abs, as if they were something edible.

This whole situation was dissolving from mild embarrassment to catastrophic levels. Jinu seemed to feel the same way. As a distraction, he leaned down to pick up the tonics she had dropped.

“Oh, no you don’t need to do that!” Rumi hastily said as she also leaned down to grab some of the tonics. They both miscalculated the distance and managed to collide with each other. Their heads hit each other. Both let out a startled ‘Ow!’. Rumi grabbed her head.

“Are you okay?!” Jinu asked with a worried voice. He was rubbing his head as well. Rumi nodded quickly in answer. She gave him an awkward thumbs up.

“Better than a drama,” Mira commented around her full mouth of popcorn. Rumi sent her friend a glare. They were far too amused by the situation to be intimidated.

"Jinu! Where are you guys? It’s starting in five minutes!” A voice called.

“Coming!” Four voices chorused. The one with the hair in his face took the empty popcorn buckets from Mira and Zoey. Zoey was looking after him with starry eyes.

Jinu trailed after them. He was glancing over his shoulder as if he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. Rumi felt as if the blush had never left her cheeks throughout the whole interaction. Jinu turned around and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something more. He was walking backwards and just as he had steeled himself to say something he stepped on one of the tonics that they had missed. He slipped.

“Oh, jeez!” He let out a noise of surprise but managed to catch himself before he fell. His cheeks were ruby red. He waved and hastily made his exit, seemingly having lost the courage he had gathered before. Rumi raised her hand as well and waved back. He disappeared around the corner.

Rumi bent down to pick up the tonic he had slipped on before slowly turning towards her friends. Both of them were wearing broad grins. Their eyes were sparkling and Rumi just knew that she would never live this whole interaction down.

“I think we found your prince charming.” Mira smirked.

“They were all so handsome!” Zoey said with a theatrical swoon.

“Oh, really?” Rumi said absentmindedly.

“We do know who you found handsome,” Mira said with a grin as she poked Rumi’s cheek. Rumi lightly slapped her hand away.

He was a demon. The words nearly spilled from her lips but she held them back at the last moment. She didn’t know why she couldn’t tell them the truth. Because maybe he was like her. A half-demon. Maybe she was not alone.

If she told them he was a demon, the others would insist that he should be eradicated even though he stood against Gwi-Ma. She had learned from childhood that all demons must be destroyed. That she herself was a mistake. As a half-demon she shouldn’t exist. Sometimes it sounded like she didn’t deserve to exist.

She had always been alone, even now, surrounded by her two closest friends, she was lonely. They could never learn the truth about her and about her patterns. Maybe there was someone that would understand. Maybe she had finally found that person. Rumi forcefully banished the traitorous thoughts from her mind.

“Oh, do you hear that?” Zoey asked. She had the sharpest ears out of them. Her words pulled Rumi out of her thoughts.

“It's music,” Mira said. They followed the music toward a large square where a ton of people had gathered. Someone handed them a flyer.

“Saja Boys, street performance?” Mira read out loud. A cloud of pink smoke appeared in the center of the square. The five guys they had run into earlier started to sing and perform.

“They were a boy band?” Mira said as her feet unconsciously moved with the beat.

“Oh, they seem to be the boy band NL Entertainment was debuting,” Zoey said as she held out her phone to show them.

“It is catchy,” Rumi admitted as her shoulders moved to the beat of Soda Pop. Jinu was in the center and his singing voice was just as pretty as Rumi had remembered it. A demon in a boy band.

“It's infectious,” Mira reluctantly said. They were moving smoothly and almost perfectly synchronized through the dance routine. A demon in a boy group and he was pretty darn good. Once again, Rumi saw the Honmoon pulse when Jinu sang but neither Mira nor Zoey seemed to notice. It felt like she was the only one that could see the Honmoon shimmer like that.

“Demons at three’ o’clock,” Mira suddenly whispered to her. Rumi felt her heart stop for a moment. Just for a second she had thought that they had noticed what Jinu was. She ignored why that thought had scared her. She glanced to her right. Two humans stood there, holding hands with their patterns faintly glowing.

“There are more on the left,” Zoey whispered back. Indeed on the other side, there were more demons. The more Rumi looked, the more patterns she saw scattered throughout the crowd.

Mira made a move as if to call her weapon.

“Don’t this is too public.” Rumi hissed at her.

“We cannot just leave them!” Mira growled back.

“They don’t seem to be doing anything, though,” Zoey added on. The demons were standing still as if they were in a trance. None of them were attempting to take the souls of those around them. It was weird. Usually in such a large crowd, demons would be trying to steal left and right. She followed the gaze of the demons on her right. Their eyes were locked onto Jinu.

“Some of them have tears in their eyes.” Mira hissed. She sounded disturbed and confused.

“Keep your weapons ready, if they should attempt to do anything, we will be ready to interfere,” Rumi ordered quietly. She forced her breathing to relax. She felt uneasy being in such a large crowd with demons.

The song came to an end and thunderous applause exploded. The Saja Boys bowed low with large smiles on their faces. Before they disappeared, as members of their staff ushered them away through the crowd.

The crowd of people dissipated after a while. They were buzzing with excitement.

“Most of the demons are still here,” Mira whispered as she eyed the still seemingly frozen demons. Just as she said that, the demons split into four separate clusters and moved away from the square.

“Shit.” Mira groaned.

“Divide and conquer?” Zoey asked as she followed the demons with her eyes.

“Divide and conquer.” Rumi nodded in agreement. The clusters only had a maximum of five demons each, which would be a piece of cake to take care of.

The girls split up. Rumi hid her box of tonics in one of the bushes at the edge of the square before she quickly climbed up the wall and onto the roof. From the tiles of the roof, she could make out a group of four demons that were quickly walking down a street. Rumi trailed after them, hoping that they would soon reach an area with less civilians.

The groups of demons came to a stop in front of a temple. She froze as she caught sight of who was leaning against the temple door. Rumi quickly lay down flat on the temple roof. She was close enough that she was able to hear them but they wouldn’t be able to see them.

“Why are you following me?” Jinu asked with a frown on his lips. The four demons looked at each other before they bowed deeply to Jinu.

“Thank you,” the four demons boomed. Even from the rooftop, Rumi could see the confused expression on Jinus face.

“For what?” He asked.

“For silencing his voice. It has been the first time in the last two hundred years that Gwi-Ma's voice has gone silent,” the largest of the demons said.

“Your voice is a blessing,” the other demon said with an enthusiastic nod. The four demons were crowding closer and closer towards Jinu.

“Can we touch you just once?” A third demon asked timidly. Jinu let out a deep sigh and looked towards the sky as if it would provide answers to the unsaid questions he had.

“Fine, here.” Jinu held out his arm. He looked deeply unimpressed. Almost as if they were touching something sacred, the demons slowly reached out and lightly touched his arm. Rumi could see the blissful expression that came over the demons.

“Happy now?” Jinu said with a roll of his eyes. The four demons nodded enthusiastically.

“Then you better hide, quickly, something is coming,” Jinu muttered. Something was crackling in the air like static and lightning. Something was coming. Rumi summoned her sword. The familiar weight was a comfort in her hands.

“We can help,” the demons offered eagerly.

“No need for you to get hurt, I can take care of it,” Jinu said with a shrug.

“He is so kind,” one of the demons muttered before they disappeared in a cloud of red smoke. Before Rumi could decide what to do next, Jinu had pulled his phone out.

“Some demons cornered me, I will be late.” Jinu informed whoever was on the other end of the line.

“Yeah, no, these were not sent by my Gwi-Ma,” Jinu said with a small chuckle.

“Stop calling me demon catnip,” Jinu complained in answer to whatever was said on the phone. The ground started to shake.

“I will be there soon, gotta take care of something first.” Gone was the playful tone in his voice.

A purple crack appeared in the ground. Twenty white, pale hands started to reach out of the crack. Jinu let out a curse. He quickly jumped onto the temple wall and from there onto the roof. He landed right beside Rumi. There was only a handspan of space between them. He had nearly landed on top of her. They stared at each other with wide eyes.

Chapter Text

“Rumi?!” He let out a startled noise, nearly slipped and fell off the roof.

“Hi.” He raised his hand in an awkward wave. This was not what he had expected to happen. He had not planned to encounter her here.

“Ehm, come here often?” He was scrambling for something to say. Rumi sent him an unimpressed look.

A noise like a swarm of hornets rose in the air. Demons were crawling out of the crack but they were unlike any that Rumi had seen before. Their limbs were pale and they had no faces. Their claws were long and sharp.

“What are those?” Rumi had an expression of revulsion on her face.

“Fuck, of course he sends faceless ones after me.” Jinu let out a tired sigh. He had already given up pretending to not know what was going on. Rumi had probably trailed the four demons from the square to here.

“They don’t have a consciousness like other demons, they just devour everything in their path.” Jinu grimaced into a look of disgust. The faceless ones were often unleashed to hunt other demons. They were great for taking out larger groups but they were too messy for specific targets because they devoured everything in their path. They followed Gwi-Mas commands alone. Since they were missing thought processes of their own and were nothing more than empty husks neither Jinus touch nor his voice would be able to influence them. They were Gwi-Mas mindless hounds giving birth to nothing but destruction.

“Of course you know,” Rumi muttered under her breath. Her blade was pointed towards him. She was not doing anything yet but Jinu felt startingly reminded of their first night meeting.

“Eh, you can try and kill me with your blade after we dealt with that?” Jinu said with a forced smile. He pointed towards the faceless ones that were starting to crawl up the temple walls towards them.

“Fine.” Rumi whirled around and her blade sliced clean through the first demon that tried to climb onto the roof. Jinu took a deep breath before he joined her in the fight.

His patterns started to appear on his skin. He ignored the noise Rumi let out at the sight and used his claws to tear out the throat of the one that came too close to him.

Seeing Rumi fight with her sword was mesmerising. It almost looked as if she was dancing. Her blue blade danced through the air. Her steps were light and nimble. She made fighting look so effortless. In comparison, Jinu was a messy fighter. He only had his claws, which meant he had to get up close with the enemy, which gave them more opportunities to counter attack. He had to evade constantly before retaliating. Unknown to him, Rumi also thought that it looked like he was dancing, a different style from her own but it still looked graceful.

“God, why are there so many,” Rumi complained as she sidestepped an attack. Jinu grabbed her would-be attacker and tore his throat out.

“Gwi-Ma is an overachiever,” Jinu said with a laugh. An overachiever in consuming souls as well. Rumi rolled her eyes at him but there was a small smile on her lips. They had managed to decimate over half of the demons together when it happened. There were only five enemies left.

One of the roof tiles had become loose during the fight. Rumi moved out of the way of a swiping claw and just as she was about to use the enemy’s momentum against him the tile slipped completely loose. She fell but managed to catch herself so that she could roll away from the incoming attack. The enemy's claws ripped through the fabric of her hoodie. Jinu killed it for her.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to decimate the rest of the demons. Jinu felt sweaty and tired. It had been ages since he had been forced to fight multiple opponents like this.

Jinu glanced towards Rumi and noticed the torn hoodie. He grabbed her arm, ignoring the blade that was pointed automatically towards him.

“Are you hurt?” He asked with a frown. Rumi blinked at him in confusion for a moment.

“I’m fine, what are you?” Rumi asked with her blade still pointed towards Jinu. He let her arm drop. Her patterns were seen clearly through the torn gash in the hoodie.

“A demon,” Jinu admitted freely. There was no point in lying to her.

“Why are you so different from the other demons we have encountered?” Rumi asked suspiciously, her blade remained pointed at him.

“I am free of Gwi-Ma’s control,” Jinu admitted with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Just as you are,” he continued gently as he pointed towards the patterns on her arms. A startled noise left her lips and she hastily covered the exposed area with her hand.

“You don’t hear his whispers at all, do you?” Jinu asked softly.

“Rumi!” A voice called in the distance. Zoey and Mira must have finished with their demons and were now calling for Rumi.

Rumi’s eyes widened frantically. She couldn’t let them see her patterns. It broke Jinu’s heart to see her panic over her patterns.

Jinu stepped closer. He ignored the sword that was pointed at him. It was an empty threat. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pockets. He tied it around the torn part of her hoodie with gentle care.

“Your patterns are beautiful.” He smiled at her one last time before he disappeared in a cloud of red smoke, leaving a stunned Rumi behind.

oOo

“Rumi, are you all right?” Mira vaulted herself up onto the roof.

“I’m good,” Rumi promised with a smile. She let her sword disappear. Her other hand was clutching her arm and the handkerchief tightly.

He had seen her. He had seen the patterns. He had called them beautiful. He had seen them. Rumi felt unmoored and confused.

“Did you get the demons?” Zoey asked as she twirled her knives.

“Yeah, I got them,” Rumi answered. She hadn’t gotten the ones she had originally followed but she had killed a lot.

“Ours got away,” Mira grumbled.

Rumi trailed after her friends, feeling confused. She tried to participate in the conversation but her mind just kept drifting.

They joked around with each other at dinner like normal. Rumi withdrew to her room shortly afterwards, citing that she was feeling very tired. She changed into her comfortable clothes and laid down on her fluffy bed with a sigh. She looked to her left, the handkerchief was laying on her table, seemingly mocking her. She turned her back towards it. She opened her phone. Zoey had sent her a message with the Saja Boys’ fan page, fan cafe, VLive account and youtube account. It seemed as if she couldn’t escape Jinu after all.

Curiosity got the best of her. The first thing she watched was the music video. It had already gotten a few million views. It was a simple MV, nothing like the high budget Huntrix had used for Golden. After that, she watched the lyric videos for Temptation and for Lost Voices. Their voices were good, really good. Whereas Soda Pop was joyful, Lost Voices was filled with emotion, anguish and sadness.

She even watched the live stream they had done for the mini album. It was fascinating to watch Jinu joke around with his members. He was a demon and yet he displayed his emotions clearly for all. He got annoyed, he laughed and he got embarrassed just like a human.

It was clear to see from the way the members gravitated towards Jinu that they adored him. They were always touching him in some form or another. Jinu seemed to be completely used to it. Even during the performance of Soda Pop, they had orbited around him.

She felt herself flush as she watched the members tease Jinu for his love of Huntrix. Rumi would never admit it but the whole section was sweet.

She fell down a rabbit hole. By the time she looked up from her phone, it was already midnight and she had actually ordered an album, much to her chagrin. She wanted to see those concept photos everyone was gushing about. Nothing more. And no one needed to know that she secretly hoped to get Jinu’s photocards.

A knock at her window interrupted her thoughts, suddenly. She looked towards her balcony. A magpie was sitting on her railing. A magpie wearing a tiny hat.

“Is the bird really wearing a hat?” Rumi asked herself out loud. It cawed at her once before it flew off. She rubbed her eyes.

Okay, she must be getting really tired if she started imagining birds with hats. It was time for bed.

oOo

Jinu was running his hands through the glossy feathers of the bird that was perching on his shoulder. He had sent it out to check on Rumi. Derpy was rubbing along his leg. He could already see Jelly running after him with a lint roller. Even demon cats lost too much hair.

“So, in summary, you were stalked by fan-demons, nearly jumped on top of your crush and then you fought demons together, only for you to call her beautiful and then run away?” Abby summarized with an arched eyebrow.

“Better than any drama,” Baby commented. He had materialized another bucket of popcorn from somewhere and was happily munching on it.

Jinu let out a groan and let his face fall into the fluffy neck of the demonic tiger, hoping that the blue fur would suffocate him.

“He is so gone for her,” Romance said with a snicker.

“Well, at least we now know that a demon and hunter alliance is not impossible,” Mystery said with a shrug as he stole some of Baby’s popcorn.

“Though, I think Jinu wants way more than an alliance.” Romance smirked at him. Jinu blindly grabbed a pillow that was lying next to him on the couch and chucked it in the general direction of Romance, who got hit squarely in the face with it.

“We just fought demons together,” Jinu said petulantly.

“And the whole time you thought she was absolutely gorgeous,” Abby said with a grin as he laid his arm over his shoulder. Jinu rammed his elbow into his stomach in retaliation.

“Are your abs made of cement?!” Jinu complained. His bloody elbow hurt.

“The best marble only,” Abby said with a waggle of his eyebrows. Jinu let out a groan of second hand embarrassment. The others laughed at him.

“Apropos demons, there were demons in the audience today,” Mystery commented.

“Yeah, there were a lot of them,” Baby said around a mouthful of popcorn.

“Chew before you speak,” Jinu scolded automatically. Baby rolled his eyes at him like a petulant teenager.

“Do you know anything?” Romance asked Jelly, who was currently fighting with their coffee machine. They had to get a new one after Romance had broken the last one and Abby had tried to repair it. The monstrosity Abby had created was safely locked away in a closet and would be thrown in the trash as soon as he was not home. The new coffee machine worked a little bit differently than their old one, so Jelly was still trying to figure it out.

“Whispers are going around about your abilities,” Jelly said as he let out a small whoop of victory as the coffee was poured into the cup.

“So they came to see for themselves.” Mystery concluded. He had grabbed himself a smoothie out of the fridge. He was seemingly addicted to smoothies now, at least it was better than trying to bite the houseplants.

“Gwi-Ma is on a rampage, everyone is walking around on eggshells,” Jelly said as he handed Jinu and Baby their coffee.

“He didn’t expect that you would be able to resist him,” Romance said as he stole another handful of popcorn.

“He is very, very angry,” Jelly said around a shudder. He was clutching his glass of milk and honey.

“He is also hardly getting any souls, most demons that come to the surface get mesmerised by your songs and don’t bring him any more souls,” Jelly continued on. The other water demons had told him what was going on beneath the surface.

“He has probably burned hundreds by now,” Jinu said with a pained grimace.

“If he keeps this up there won’t be any demons left,” Baby concluded.

“A lot of demons are fleeing into the human realm, trying to hide from Gwi-Ma,” Jelly explained softly.

“Until he forcefully drags them back,” Jinu said as he rubbed his arms.

“Not if they listen to your songs.” Jelly was looking at him with large, sparkling eyes.

“What?” Jinu asked with wide eyes. He could not sing daily for hundreds if not thousands of demons.

“Recordings are starting to work too, it's enough to disconnect the power Gwi-Ma holds,” Abby explained with a grin.

“They no longer have to hear you directly for it to work. I tried it out as well,” Romance admitted with a wave of his hand.

“Huntrix songs still have the strongest effect but Soda Pop works as well,” Romance added. He had done some experiments when the others had been asleep.

“You are getting stronger,” Mystery summarised.

“Huh.” Jinu looked down at his hand. Unknown to him, his voice had become the salvation for thousands of demons. A way to get away from the demon king.

“It's a revolution,” Baby said with a broad grin.

“Revolution.” The word rolled over Jinu's tongue with a certain taste of wonder. Maybe it was possible to stop Gwi-Ma. Maybe they could really beat him. Maybe there could be a demon realm not governed by fear. Maybe they would no longer have to offer souls to the demon king. Maybe they could be free of him. Maybe he could truly be free and maybe Rumi could also be free from her shame. Maybe it was possible to no longer be ashamed of being a demon.

Maybe his voice was the answer to everything. The voice he had sold his soul for. Maybe it could keep other souls safe this time.

“I like the sound of that,” Jinu said with an honest smile.

Chapter Text

“Oh, the Saja Boys are on ‘Let’s Play Games With Us’,” Zoey said as she scrolled through her phone. They were chilling on the couch together, waiting for Bobby. Rumi couldn’t quite help the way her ears sharpened at the mention of the boy group.

‘Let’s play games with us’ was a variety show on channel nine. The Hosts would challenge their guests to random games. Huntrix had been on the show multiple times.

She casually strolled over to Zoey’s side and took a glance at her phone.

“Do you want to watch it with me?” Zoey said with a sly grin.

“Of course she wants to watch it,” Mira answered before Rumi could open her mouth.

“It’s the first time Rumi has got a crush, how exciting!” Zoey was grinning at her broadly.

“I do not have a crush!” Rumi protested immediately. They could never find out about the package that was lying beneath her bed. The Saja Boys album was still inside of it since Rumi hadn’t dared to open it just yet. She knew that it was there. Everytime she was in her room she couldn’t help but stare at its hiding spot.

“Ohhhh, Jinu!” Mira pretended to swoon theatrically.

“Shut up!” Rumi threw a pillow into Mira’s direction.

“If you need help confessing I got eight notebooks full with potential confessions!” Zoey pulled eight notebooks out of nowhere. They were adorned with hearts and pink sparkles. Her eyes were sparkling just as much.

“Why do you have that many notebooks for that?” Mira asked with an arched eyebrow.

“You never know when you need to get creative with professing your love!” Zoey said with a giggle.

“I do not need help confessing!” Rumi nearly shrieked. She just knew that her skin was flaming red.

“Girl, you need all the help,” Mira said as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

“This is your first crush after all!” Zoey laughed brightly.

“I had crushes before!” Rumi protested.

“Nope, you respected people but it was not a crush,” Mira said seriously. Zoey nodded in agreement. Rumi let out the noise of something dying an agonizing death.

“Oh, it’s starting!” Zoey exclaimed.

“Look, your Jinu is the first one with the mic,” Mira smirked.

“He is not my Jinu,” Rumi muttered.

“But you want him to be!” Zoey singsonged. Rumi had sadly already thrown the only pillow near her at Mira so she opted to just pretend that the other two didn’t exist. She was still able to hear the infernal giggling, much to her annoyance.

Soon enough, Rumi forgot all about her friends teasing and instead her eyes were focused on the screen.

oOo

Jinu regretted a few things as he regretted this reality show. His tongue was still burning and this time there were no Huntrix going down a slide in squeaky leather outfits to alleviate the pain. Only Baby seemed completely content with his hot sauce drink.

The longer they were in the human world the more they were able to taste. Now, other than spicy, sweet and sour had become new flavours they could appreciate. Baby turned out to be the only one that really liked the spicy stuff. Ha-yun had given him whole spicy chilis as a present yesterday and he had munched on them as if they were candies, much to their horror.

“Oh, there is a bathhouse, let's go!” Romance exclaimed as they left the building.

That was how Jinu ended up in the bathhouse submerged in the hot water. The other Saja Boys were sighing happily. Baby had already managed to fall asleep in the hot water. He was resting his head on Abby’s shoulder.

Jinu had to bite his lip to stop his chuckles from escaping. Who would have thought that he would one day relax in the same bathhouse him and Huntrix had fought at in their last life.

This was the place where he had seen Rumi’s patterns for the first time. The hot steam rose in the air.

“Good, right?” Romance said with a self-satisfied grin.

“I saw in one of the dramas that bathhouses are relaxing,” Romance bragged. He had become utterly addicted to K-Dramas and was binging them en masse. Business Proposal was the one he was currently watching. He was also insistent that they needed to upload at least one cover of one of the drama intros. Jinu argued back that they needed to upload at least two Huntrix ones in exchange. They still hadn’t decided on which ones they wanted to use. Their discussion was ongoing.

“You and your dramas,” Abby said with a snort. Baby woke up at the noise and the shaking of the shoulder he had been using as a pillow.

“You are no better, you work-out maniac,” Baby said with a groan. He got woken up at five am because Abby had discovered eighties aerobics and was trying it out at five in the bloody morning. Baby had decided that drastic measures must be taken to preserve his peaceful morning He had taken a pair of scissors and cut the TV cable. Which had caused a completely separate issue. Mystery had wanted to watch his nature documentary. Jinu had to organize a laptop from the agency, or else there would have been an even bigger fight.

“Children,” Jinu muttered underneath his breath as he tried to close his eyes and relax. The warm water was doing wonders for his sore muscles. Their promotion was going off without a hitch, but it was also draining. They had to sing and dance so much that Soda Pop was becoming a shackle. He wondered if Rumi had any songs she loathed to perform. He remembered that for one of their songs her expression was extremely stiff during their performances.

It was like an avalanche, once Rumi had appeared in his mind she just kept popping up. Just yesterday, he had wondered if she liked pomegranates after an older fan had gifted him with a whole basket of them. They were probably gonna eat pomegranates for a long while.

“I feel like someone is watching us,” Mystery muttered after a moment. Jinu opened his eyes and looked around. There were more than a few pairs of eyes on them. There were a ton of water demons staring at them with wide eyes. They were crammed into the baths, just staring at them.

“My condolences,” Abby said as he patted Jinu's shoulder. The demons were staring at Jinu with large, sparkling eyes.

“The consequences of becoming famous,” Baby said with a shake of his head. He was grinning at Jinu.

“At this rate the demon realm as a whole is going to follow you around.” Romance snickered.

Jinu let out a groan. Apparently not even the bathhouse was sacred to them. He had hoped the Honmoon would keep the demons out but apparently when demons came to stalk him and not to steal souls the Honmoon happily let them through.

oOo

Rumi entered her room with a tired slump to her shoulders. Her voice was still giving her trouble. She sounded like a dying frog. Or as Mira put it, a dying toad in the middle of its mating call. Zoey snickered and added onto it that it was a mating call for a certain idol. She had stalked out of the room after trying to smother the two of them with pillows.

She should never have let them notice that she found Jinu attractive. She had signed the contract to her own doom.

She walked towards her bed, ready to just fall face first onto it and try to suffocate herself. Just as she was about to fall onto the bed she stubbed her toe on something. Rumi let out a colourful curse. That hurt.

She looked beneath the bed. She had hit her toe on the package containing the album she had bought. She quickly looked around her room. She had the fear that as soon as she were to open it that both Mira and Zoey would appear out of nowhere. She pulled the package out from underneath her bed.

Rumi carefully opened it. Inside was the album plus a poster. With each order, one could get a poster of one of the members. The buyer could select which member they wanted but the poster was one of the three photoshoots. So the member was selectable but the picture you were gonna get of that member was random.

She decided to look at which photocards she got and then she would look at the poster. The album was a bright bubblegum pink. It kind of hurt her eyes to look at. She quickly opened it. Two photocards fell out of the packaging.

She barely suppressed her disappointed sigh when the first photocard was of Mystery in his Soda Pop outfit. Rumi didn’t quite understand why Zoey liked him because you couldn’t even see his face completely. The second photocard was something else. A wet Jinu stared up at her from the card. His lips were stretched into a sinful grin revealing his canine teeth. He looked good.

She would not look up all the other photocards that were available of him from that album. She barely suppressed the urge to grab her phone and check it out, instead she focused on something else.

Rumi looked at the rolled up poster and decided to unfurl it slowly. She took one glance at it and immediately dropped it.

That was not fair. Why did a demon have to look that good! It was completely unfair. She picked it back up and unscrolled it all the way.

He was lounging on a black velvet armchair, holding a glass of red wine. His lips were red from the liquid and stretched into a seductive smirk. He was captured mid motion as he slowly tipped the glass down, so that the red liquid ran down the parts of his chest that were bare. Rumi started at the picture. Her cheeks were cherry red.

“You are a demon, I do not like you!” She told the picture with a glare. Something knocked on her window. Rumi quickly put everything back into the box.

The magpie was back. It was still wearing a hat. She rubbed her eyes but the bird remained where it was.

Rumi slowly opened the balcony door and slowly stepped out onto the balcony. The bird let out an ungodly screech. It suddenly had six eyes instead of two. All of them were staring at her.

“A demon bird?” Rumi eyed the demonic magpie suspiciously. A growling noise suddenly resounded from the corner where she kept her plants. Rumi whirled around her sword at the ready. A pair of glowing eyes watched her. A blue tiger stepped out of the shadows.

It looked like one of the guardian statues at temples and like the ancient paintings from a time long past but also strangely adorable.

Its big paw hit one of the flower pots. Rumi spent the next few minutes watching as the tiger tried and failed to upright the flower pot. The bird next to her on the railing rolled its eyes.

At some point, Rumi felt mercy for him and leaned down and picked the flower pot up. It slowly lifted its head and looked at her. With his next step, it accidentally tripped the flowerpot over once more. The magpie in the background let out a tired sigh.

“No, you can leave it!” Rumi said with a chuckle as the tiger raised its paw to correct the flower pot.

“What are you?” She asked aloud. The tiger tilted its head and opened its maw. It stuck its tongue out and let a blue card drop onto the floor. It was covered in tiger slobber.

Rumi picked up the card ignoring the wetness. On it ‘Hello Friend’ was written above the drawing of a white duck. She opened the card.

“J-Jinu?!” She let out a noise of surprise.

“I am not gonna meet you in the middle of the night!” She exclaimed. A blue glow bathed the balcony in light. The magpie flew past her and landed on the tiger’s head. A portal had opened up beneath the tiger. It was slowly sinking into the portal. It eyed the plant pot as it disappeared. Rumi ran to the railing. In the distance, she saw the tiger walk down the street.

“Fine, let's meet, I will get some answers today,” Rumi said. She put on a pair of sneakers and carefully sneaked past Mira’s and Zoey’s room.

She followed the tiger through the streets. It glanced at her one last time before disappearing inside a temple statue. She looked up, there was someone standing on the rooftop.

With ease and years of training Rumi silently jumped onto the roof. She slowly moved closer towards Jinu, who wasn’t moving.

“Jinu?” She asked as she lightly touched his shoulder. His head fell off and into her hands. She let out a shriek of surprise. Reflexively, she flung the head away. With a thud and clunk it fell onto the roof tiles, rolled and fell into the temple garden.

“Well, I didn’t expect a hug but I also didn’t expect to get that flung at me.” Jinu was standing behind the now headless mannequin. He was grinning at her.

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!” Rumi hissed. She had reflexively drawn her sword. The mannequin fell from the roof with a loud thunk.

“I thought it would be a fun ice breaker.” Jinu chuckled as he raised his hands in surrender.

“What are you planning?” Rumi eyed him suspiciously.

“I just wanted to talk to you,” Jinu answered.

“About what?” Rumi didn’t lower her sword. They had fought together but that didn’t mean that she trusted him.

“Your patterns, but first we have to talk about those pants.” Jinu looked at her with serious eyes. He pointed towards her pants.

“Teddy bears and choo choo trains, really?” He asked with a smirk. Rumi looked down at herself. She was wearing her comfy sleeping pants that had teddy bears and trains on them. She looked back up.

“Choo choo!” Jinu made the motion of the train conductor with a wicked grin. Rumi reacted instinctively and tried to jab him with her sword. He evaded her attack with a laugh.

"It's cute.” Jinu was laughing at her. Rumi cursed herself, she should have taken a moment to change into something else.

“Stop teasing me,” Rumi hissed at him.

“Your reactions are too cute to stop,” Jinu answered with a chuckle. She swung her sword at him again. He jumped out of the way easily. The attacks were also only half hearted.

“Did you call me here just to tease me?” Rumi asked with a huff.

“No I did not,” Jinu amended after a moment. It seemed he had finally decided to stop with the teasing.

“A hunter with the patterns of a demon,” Jinu mused out loud. Rumi clenched her hand around her sword. She glared at him.

“How did you get them?” He asked softly.

“That is none of your business,” Rumi said as she watched him carefully.

“I know how it feels to have them,” Jinu said as he looked down at his arms. His patterns appeared. They were such a dark purple that they almost seemed black in the night. A shimmer of iridescence appeared as he moved his arms.

“You are a demon after all,” Rumi said.

“Do you know how demons are made?” Jinu asked her. His honey brown eyes had a shimmer of gold in them that seemed to glow.

“Some are born in the demon realm, such as goblins, others were once human,” Jinu said softly. He was looking at the moon.

“I was human once, I was desperate and lost,” Jinu continued.

“What happened?” Rumi couldn’t stop the question from spilling from her lips.

“It was four hundred years ago, my family was poor. All I had was a bipa. I tried singing and playing for money. It was not going well.” Jinu chuckled darkly.

“Gwi-Ma started whispering in my ear. Promising riches and a warm place for my sister and mother. It was a lie,” Jinu continued on.

“Suddenly, I was playing at the royal court and my mother and sister weren’t allowed to enter. I abandoned them for my own selfish desires,” Jinu confessed. His eyes were haunted as they looked at her. She held back the sudden urge to reach out and comfort him.

“The patterns grew each day and soon I was dragged to hell,” Jinu said as his fingers trailed over his patterns.

“Gwi-Ma was a constant whisper in my ear. A constant tormentor,” Jinu whispered.

“These patterns are my shame but they don’t have to be yours,” Jinu said as he slowly stepped closer and gently touched the pattern that peeked out of her hoodie. He let his hand drop when she stepped back.

“You said you used to hear him,” Rumi said slowly.

“I died,” Jinu answered. A shiver ran down her spine. She opened her mouth to ask him about the fact that he died but he already continued talking. As if the fact that he died wasn’t important. Rumi frowned. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about his supposed death. She would remember and ask later.

“I sacrificed myself, I was selfless for the first time in my life. It severed my connection with Gwi-Ma.” Jinu was touching his heart with a soft smile.

“Are all demons tormented by Gwi-Ma?” Rumi asked slowly. Had they been killing demons that didn’t even want to steal souls all these years?

“Not all, some relished in it,” Jinu explained.

“Some just want to exist without fearing Gwi-Ma’s fire, whereas others enjoy the torment they bring to the human world. It's layered in shades of grey,” Jinu answered.

“What do you want?” Rumi asked slowly.

“I want to keep those precious to me safe,” Jinu explained.

“Is it to atone for your mother and sister?” Rumi gently asked. A heartbreaking smile stole itself over his face. Her heart stumbled over itself. He was really far too handsome for it to be fair.

“Maybe,” Jinu said with a shrug.

“I am trying not to be selfish but,” he looked at her and something in his gaze made her avoid direct eye contact, “it’s not always easy.”

“Why were the demons trailing you?” Rumi asked as a distraction. She needed him to focus on something other than her. Her cheeks were tinted a faint red from the intensity of his stare.

“Ugh, they are so annoying.” Jinu slumped.

“They even followed me into the bathhouse,” Jinu complained. It was almost as if he was whining. Gone was the steady and suave man and instead a dork was slowly revealed.

“Like, I get that I am their anti-Gwi-Ma talisman but at least a little privacy would be helpful!” Jinu ranted.

“Anti-Gwi-Ma talisman?” Rumi asked with an amused smile dancing on her lips.

“Oh, right.” Jinu had forgotten that Rumi didn’t know of his abilities.

“After dying, I gained something. My touch and my voice can keep Gwi-Ma at bay.” A vicious grin was spreading across his lips.

“They flock to you because you can stop his voice,” Rumi whispered.

“We are decimating his forces.” Jinu's grin was a brutal thing and for the first time that night Rumi was reminded of the demon that he was.

“A revolution from within.” Jinu was looking proud of himself.

“Do you want to be the next demon king?” Rumi asked with steely eyes.

“Oh bloody hell, no, never. I have no interest in that at all.” Jinu shuddered. He had enough work with being the leader of the Saja Boys, being demon king on top of that was just asking for a burn out.

“Once Gwi-Ma is gone the demon realm will have to decide,” Jinu continued.

“You make it sound as if you aren’t connected to it,” Rumi said skeptically.

“I belong somewhere else.” His gaze was as soft as his voice was gentle. He was looking at her with something close to longing in his eyes.

“I want to be free of him, just as you want to be free of those patterns,” he said. His eyes were too knowing.

“You want an alliance.” Rumi came to the conclusion before the last word left his mouth. Jinu nodded.

“I am also here if you need someone to talk to about the patterns, I am all yours,” Jinu swore solemnly. The words ‘I am yours’ echoed in her head, they felt like a brand that was searing into her skin.

“I have to go now, but think about it.” Jinu reached out and lightly touched her shoulder before he disappeared in a cloud of red, leaving Rumi behind.

Chapter Text

“I am all yours, god why did I say that. It’s too much.” Jinu let out a muffled curse. He was hiding his face in his hands. He was red to the roots of his hair. It had just slipped out and he hadn’t been able to stop it. It was too much and too fast. She didn’t know him yet. She was not the Rumi that knew him. She had given him hope the first time around. This time he prayed that he could give her even a fraction of that hope. She had given him a light in the dark. His shining star. Now he wanted to be hers.

After blurting those words out he had run away like a coward. He had shown too much of his longing. It didn’t help that he nearly fell off the roof he had teleported to. He was a mess.

Baby had called him a loser trapped in a hot body and at this point Jinu didn’t have the capability to even disagree.

The next day Huntrix would have the fansign. Jinu was debating if he should show his face. They had no rivalry this time around, so there would be no need to aggravate the Huntrix Girls. But he could get an autograph from her.

He had a hard time staying away from her. She was like a sun and he was just one of the many planets helplessly caught in her orbit.

Jinu opened the door to their flat and immediately closed it again. He opened it once more but the sight that greeted him had not changed.

In the center of the room a large banner with the words ‘Congrats on your first Date’ was hanging in the bright pink letters. Pink and Purple balloons filled the rooms.

As soon as he stepped one foot into the room. A series of pops resounded and he got covered in party streamers, confetti and glitter. The other four Saja Boys were grinning at him. They were Holding the confetti poppers in their hands looking utterly unrepentant.

“Congrats on your rooftop date!” Abby exclaimed with a broad grin.

“Yay, congrats,” Baby said in the most unenthusiastic voice. He had clearly been forced to participate.

“How on earth did you guys even find out?” Jinu sputtered as he tried to free himself off the ridiculous amount of party decorations that covered him. Jinu eyed Derby and the bird suspiciously. Had they given it away?

“I followed you,” Mystery admitted with a shrug.

“We even got cake!” Romance sent him a peace sign of victory. He held out a platter on which a cake with the words ‘Yay! She Didn’t Kill You!’ were written in red icing. There was even a pink heart drawn next to it.

They had custom ordered the cake from a bakery close to their flat. They had tried to explain the situation to a very confused baker. The more Abby tried to explain it the more confused the poor baker seemed to get.

Romance insisted that the filling had to be pink. He wanted a white cake with strawberry flavour. Abby wanted red. Abby was loudly saying that they needed a second cake in case she did end up killing him. The two of them got into a heated discussion about how the design was even supposed to look.

Abby was insistent that they needed blood and guts made of marzipan whereas Romance wanted a cutesy cake covered in hearts. Other customers had already made a wide arc around the increasing argument.

The poor person working the register was being stared down by both of them as they got more and more creative with their suggestions. The worker had repeatedly tried to tell them that with the little time they had a heavily detailed cake was not possible. It would also have been ridiculously expensive. By the end the poor confused worker just wanted them both gone.

They decided on a simple design in the end much to the bakery staff's relief. They didn’t want to make a realistic corpse cake that Abby was trying to insist on. Simple blood like lettering and some pink hearts were the compromise. It was a cherry cake with some red filling that looked enough like blood that Abby was satisfied.

Abby was carrying another platter on which a clearly handmade cake was displayed. It was misshapen and it looked as if someone had spilled red marmalade all over the top. It looked like it was supposed to spell something but whoever made it had clearly failed. The one corner where the icing hadn’t been applied evenly looked slightly burned.

Jinu glanced past Romance into the kitchen that looked like a hurricane had gone through it. He smelled something in the air that was distinctly burned. Jinu felt his left eye twitch. He grabbed both cakes and gently put them on the table. iÍt would be bad if he dropped the cakes since someone had clearly worked hard on both, before he slowly turned around.

“Romance, why were you in the kitchen?” Jinu asked menacingly. Romance avoided direct eye contact.

“Did one of you let him into the kitchen?” Jinu asked as he glared at the other three.

“I am innocent, I was out helping Jelly and Ha-Yun,” Baby said as he raised his hands in surrender.

“Better run, he will try to murder you,” Baby drawled. He had moved away from the door and had sprawled out on the couch.

“I will strangle you guys,” Jinu promised. Abby, Mystery and Romance shared a look and decided it was for the best if they started running. Jinu was hot on their heels.

Baby used the chance to snap a picture. In the image Baby was in the forefront holding up a peace sign and in the background Jinu was hunting down the other three Saja Boys. He was careful that neither the banner nor the cakes were in the picture. He edited it a bit and with a satisfied grin he posted it on their insta.

oOo

Rumi arrived back home with even more questions than she had before. Jinu was all that she had been taught to hunt. He was a demon, something inhumane, emotionless and cruel. But Jinu felt far more human than any she had ever encountered before. He wore his emotions plain and simple to see. There had been no lie in any of his words. Just laid bare vulnerability and self hatred. Jinu was not cruel, he was gentle. He had looked at her with the most gentle eyes.

She snuck back into her room on silent feet. Maybe an enemy of her enemy could be her ally even though he was a demon. She pulled the hoodie over her head and something fell out of the hood. Rumi knelt down to pick it up. It was a small note.

On it the words ‘If you need me’ were scrawled below a telephone number. On the bottom a small drawing of a waving duck. Jinu must have put it into her hood at some point during their conversation on the rooftop.

She stared at it for a moment before grabbing her mobile. She saved his number under the name Tiger Boy. If the others caught wind of his name in her phone she would never hear the end of it.

She fell into her bed and burrowed beneath the blankets. They had a signing tomorrow and they also had to perform Golden at the Show the day after that. Her voice was not yet back to normal so they would have to use a prerecording for her high parts, which sucked. They never had to use one before but with her voice cracking she could not sing like she normally would.
She just wished her voice would feel like hers again. She honestly no longer knew just who she was. Rumi Main Vocal of Huntrix, a Hunter but also a half demon.

Rumi fell asleep with her thoughts whirling around in her head like an endless carousel. She kept turning in her bed. It was one of the most restless nights she had that week. The next morning she stumbled into the kitchen.

“You look like a zombie, a hot zombie but still a Zombie,” Mira said as she drank her coffee. She was flipping through a gossip magazine.

“Gimme,” Rumi made grabby hands towards the coffee pot. She usually didn’t like coffee but after the restless night she needed the caffeine.

“Oookay, your night must have been bad,” Mira eyed her warily as Rumi drank the whole hot cup of coffee in one go. It was scalding but that didn’t matter to her.

“Damn, a tongue of steel, I see,” Mira commented with a whistle.

“Good Morning!” Zoey came into the kitchen like a whirlwind. She was in her gym clothes because she had already done a light workout.

“Ready for the fansign?” She asked with an excited giggle. Rumi looked at her with tired eyes.

“Yay,” She said tiredly. Mira and Zoey shared a look before they grabbed Rumi.

“We are gonna help get you ready!” Zoey said decisively as they dragged Rumi towards the bathroom. The girls ran to grab some clothes from the closet in her room. They threw them into the bathroom through a gap in the door.

The hot water at least managed to wake her up. By the time Bobby had arrived Rumi was dressed and ready. Her makeup was flawless and her braid immaculate.

“Okay, the fans are so ready for this interview and fansign.” Booy babbled excitedly as they reached the venue.

“I saw that some fans even slept on the sidewalk!” Zoey exclaimed as she showed them her phone. On it a picture was displayed of someone laying on the sidewalk in a sleeping bag. Their signing event started at four in the afternoon.

“Wow, that's dedication,” Mira said with a sharp grin.

They were led into a studio where they held a short interview for a magazine before they were ushered into another section of the building where the autographs would be signed.

It was a large vacant area, only a table with three chairs and a backdrop of their Album cover were in the room. They took their spots at the tables. Rumi was sitting on the far right, Zoey in the middle and Mira on the left. They gently tapped their pens together.

“Happy Fans, Happy Honmoon!” They said with a smile.

Soon after the hall was suddenly filled with fans.

“Please form a single line!” Booby called as he tried to bring order into the sudden chaos. At the front of the fans stood the one that had slept on the sidewalk. The sleeping bag was slung over his shoulder.

He stepped forward and Rumi uncapped her pen.

“For whom should I sign it?” She asked.

“For one of my biggest fans,” An amused voice said. She recognized the voice. She looked up.

“Jinu?!” Rumi exclaimed. Suddenly Mira and Zoey were focused fully on them. She could feel their gazes burn into her profile.

“Hi,” He waved at her with a grin. Whispers broke out among the fans. She heard the snapshot of a mobile camera. The social media sites would be flooded with the pictures soon enough. Jinu had not even attempted to disguise himself. He pushed the sunglasses he was wearing up into his hair.

“What are you doing here?” She whispered as he stood in front of her.

“I am just getting the autograph of one of my favourite groups,” He smiled innocently at her.

“Sure,” She drawled the word with heavy suspicion.

“Well, I also wanted to check if you were all right,” He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I’m fine,” Rumi said with a wave of her hand.

“You have dark circles,” Jinu said with a frown as he pointed at his own cheek. Rumi flushed.

“How did you even notice that?!” Rumi whispered. She had plastered a ton of concealer over the dark circles.

“I notice everything about you,” Jinu admitted. It made her heart skip a beat. A whistle resounded from beside her. Mira and Zoey were grinning at her and giving her a thumbs up beneath the table so that the fans couldn’t see.

“It makes you sound like a stalker,” Rumi hissed lowly trying to hide her blush.

“You are the one that stalked me,” Jinu teased.

“Rumi is blushing!” Zoey whisper-shouted towards Mira. Jinu chuckled at their antics.

“They love you,” Jinu gently said. At the word love Rumi felt her heart stumble. He inclined his head towards Zoey and Mira who were not so subtly trying to spy on them while signing.

“I know,” Rumi said. She felt a soft smile tug at her lips.

“Tell them about your patterns,” Jinu suggested gently.

“I can’t,” Rumi answered. Celine’s words echoed in her ear. She looked down as she signed the autograph for him. The sudden touch of his hand to her wrist startled her into looking at him again.

“They love you even with the patterns,” Jinu promised solemnly. He sounded so certain as if he had already witnessed it. A lump formed in her throat and her eyes burned for a moment. He was still watching her with the same kind eyes as yesterday. She hastily handed him her autograph.

“See you soon,” Jinu promised. He waved at her, before waving towards Mira and Zoey as a goodbye. A staff member led him out towards a side door.

“You guys were whispering weren’t you?” The next fan asked. Her expression was unreadable because her eyes were hidden behind thick glasses. Rumi opened her mouth to answer but the fan beat her to it.

“No worries, your secret is save with me!” She said as she pointed to her Shirt. On the shirt a drawing of Jinu with wings and her sitting on his back was displayed beneath it the words Rujinu were written in bold letters. Rumi gaped at the fan, she signed purely on autopilot.

“So cute,” The fan sighed happily before she almost floated away. Rumi watched the fan walk away in utter bafflement. She heard Mira and Zoey snicker loudly next to her. She barely suppressed the urge to stomp on their feet.

The rest of the singing went on as normal. As they walked back to the car Bobby informed them that the post of Jinu asking for her autograph had gone completely viral. Rumi slumped into her seat. There would definitely be dating rumors. Hell there were already edits of the two of them together. Mira and Zoey were teasing her relentlessly.

“Celine wanted to talk to you about something,” Bobby informed them as they entered their home. With a bit of apprehension Rumi made her way towards Celine’s office.

Celine had been the one that raised her and yet she was also the one person Rumi could never truly feel comfortable with. She took a deep breath before she pressed down the handle and entered the office.

Chapter Text

Rumi entered the office and softly closed the door behind her. Warm light filtered through the large windows of the office. Celine was sitting at her desk. There were more streaks of grey in her black hair now and some lines around her eyes but otherwise Celine still looked just like in her childhood memories; calm, composed and perfect.

“Rumi, there are some concept ideas for the idol award show that I want you to look over,” Celine said as she pointed to a small bundle of documents.

“They changed the order?” Rumi asked as she looked at the plans. An itch was inside her throat as if something wanted to burst free. Rumi ignored it.

“The Saja Boys are probably going to win the Rookie of the Year Award so they want them to open the show,” Celine said with a dismissive shrug. She looked at the logo of the Saja Boys on the page. Jinu's face appeared in her mind’s eye and she remembered his words.

‘These patterns are my shame but they don’t have to be yours,’ Jinu’s gentle voice whispered in her ear. Shame, that was exactly it. He’d hit the nail on the head. She was ashamed, and why wouldn’t she be? Her patterns, just like her faults and fears, were not to be seen by anyone. It was best to hide and suppress them, just like Celine had taught her ever since she had been old enough to understand what the patterns were.

“Mira and Zoey keep inviting me to the bathhouse,” Rumi said as she fiddled with the sleeves of her hoodie. The patterns were steadily spreading, branching across her skin like rotting roots. She wondered how quickly they would grow to the back of her hand. Would she have to start wearing gloves soon, if the Idol Awards weren’t enough to complete the Honmoon?

“After the Honmoon is gold,” Celine answered, that long worn out phrase that was like a mantra between them. She was smiling at Rumi, and yet it felt as if she was looking right through her. Inside of her a child was screaming, ‘Look at me! Am I so disgusting that you can’t even look at me? Please for once just try to see me!’

“Maybe I could tell them,” Rumi said in a low voice. It was hardly louder than a whisper. It wasn’t the first time she said this, but maybe it could be the last. Hope had this nasty habit of sticking around, tripping her up at the worst moments. Jinu had fed that hope again, urging her to tell Mira and Zoey the truth about what she was. Maybe, if Celine could agree as well, she might just find the courage.

“No, you can't, you have to hide it,” Celine said, voice sharp with annoyance. “We’ve talked about this again and again. You cannot risk breaking up your group, not now. Not when the whole world depends on you three working as one to strengthen the Honmoon. Once the demon realm is sealed off completely you can tell them. Maybe you’re right and they won’t mind but we cannot risk it now.”

“But the lying is hurting me and hurting them,” Rumi said. It was the first time she had spoken it out loud, that it was hurting her. Keeping this secret was hurting her. It was also hurting their friendship. It felt like she couldn’t be honest with them.

“I know but it’s gonna be over soon.” Celine looked at her with gentle eyes. Yet it felt as if she was not listening to her at all.
“As soon as the Honmoon is golden, it will be fixed,” Celine said. Her words made it sound like her patterns were just a simple accident, easily fixed and wiped away. Like spilled milk or a typo in the draft of an email. Like Rumi was nothing more than her mother’s mistake that needed to be erased.

“The patterns will be gone soon, then there will be no more need to hide anything.” Celine was smiling then, eyes fixed on a point just behind Rumi’s head. Would she never get tired of repeating the same phrases over and over again? Even with the patterns gone, there would be more hiding. Celine wanted her to present as a fully human woman, unfaltering and faultless. Perfect. No one could ever see the cracks in her facade, not even, or maybe especially not her friends and fellow hunters.

“Demons and Gwi-Ma will finally be gone from our world.” Celine continued her speech. Rumi didn't know why she bothered anymore. The words had started to ring hollow ages ago, repeated over and over and over again, any comfort they once brought long since spent. At times, Rumi questioned if Celine was trying to convince Rumi or herself.

“Demons,” Rumi whispered the word underneath her breath. Now, instead of the grotesque demons she had encountered, Jinu appeared in her mind's eye when she thought of them.

Demons had taken so much from them. So many people and souls were lost because of them. It was their duty as hunters to keep the world safe from them, and yet there seemed to be some demons, who were different. It would have been harder to believe, if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes the day she followed Jinu, but there were definitely at least some demons who wished to be free of their master Gwi-Ma.

“And yet my mother fell in love with a demon,” Rumi said softly. She had never dared to utter those words before. Celine always shut down at the mere mention that her father was more than a demon to her mother.

As a child she had thought the worst of her father. She was so ashamed to have his blood, and had hated herself for being the result of what she assumed must have been something horrific. If all demons were the same, just plainly evil, how else could she even exist?

When she was fourteen she had found a picture in the attic in one of the boxes when she had been looking for something else. It was a picture of her father and her mother. Demonic patterns glowed on his skin and still her mother was smiling brightly in the picture. It had upset her entire worldview. Her mother had loved a demon. Maybe he’d tricked her or maybe he’d been an exception somehow, but at one point in time there had been a hunter who had thought there was a demon worthy of being loved. Maybe if they were still around, she would not wish to rip the patterns off of her skin.

“A mistake.” All warmth had left Celine’s face.

“Your mother made a mistake and it cost her her life,” Celine continued. Those were words that Rumi had heard more than once already. They were seared into her skin.

A mistake, that was all she was. Nothing more than a mistake.

“I know, Celine,” Rumi said, her face was expressionless. She hid her hands behind her back because they were trembling.

“I know that you can do it,” Celine loved her. Her words were affectionate, even proud. Celine believed in the power of Huntrix, there was no questioning that, but her words still stung like poison. It had only ever been the mask of perfection that Celine had loved, any hints of what lay beneath and her comfort turned cold.

“I will, I promise.” Rumi tried to keep her voice steady. She needed to get out. It felt as if the room was closing in on her.

“Did you need me for anything else?” Rumi asked after Celine let her hand drop from her cheek. Why had she even brought up her patterns? This could have been a quick, in-and-out conversation between idol and mentor. There was no reason for this masochism, when she already knew that Celine could never say the words Rumi needed her to say.

“There is a sponsor event happening two weeks after the idol awards, I will need you to attend with me,” Celine said as she handed her a print out, acting now as if their previous conversation hadn’t happened. Rumi felt glad that she didn’t notice that her hands were shaking as she took the page.

“Also, your mother’s birthday is coming up and I thought we could visit her grave together,” Celine added with a smile.

“Of course, I will bring flowers,” Rumi said. Her voice sounded wooden even to her own ears, but if Celine noticed she didn’t mention it. Her mother’s birthday was the week after the Idol Awards. Celine and her always visited together but now the thought of laying flowers at her mother’s grave with Celine left a bad taste in her mouth.

She quickly said her goodbyes and left the room. As soon as the door fell shut she bolted. She ran. She needed to get away, she needed to get out.

She burst onto the roof. The door fell shut behind her with a loud bang. She pulled her hoodie off until she was just sitting there in a simple t-shirt. Her patterns were on full display. The word mistake echoed in her head like a thunderous drum. There was nothing else she could hear.

A mistake that was born out of a love that was doomed to fail. A mistake, she was nothing but a mistake. A shame that needed to be hidden. She wrapped her arms around herself. Her nails were digging into her upper arms, into the patterns.

She was so close to being free. So close, but now her voice held her back. The one thing she had always been able to rely on. The one thing that she had believed would be untouchable. The one thing her demonic heritage could not taint. The one thing she had that made her feel like a true hunter, as if there was nothing at all different about her.

Tears burned in her eyes and she barely suppressed a sob. She could not allow herself to scream as she wanted. She didn’t know how it would affect the Honmoon. A hunter never showed weakness. An idol was never allowed to let her smile falter. She needed to be perfect.

But she was not. Her patterns were proof that she was far from perfect. She was a failure, an imperfection in her mother’s perfect life. An imperfection that Celine couldn’t even look at.

As soon as she saw a glimpse of her patterns, she would look away and tell her to hide them. Hide them. Hide them. The words echoed in her mind. Pressure was building inside her chest. As if she didn’t already have enough pressure. The safety of the world was on her shoulders. She had to turn the Honmoon golden. It was her responsibility and now because of her voice she could not fulfill the one thing she was trained for. The one thing she had been raised for. Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks. A whine left her lips.

Something touched her hand. Rumi let out a startled noise. She prayed that it was neither Mira nor Zoey; she didn’t know how to explain it to them. She turned to look and large eyes stared at her. Orange and yellow with hints of red looked at her. Blue fur was brushing against her arm. The demonic tiger that had delivered Jinu’s letter was back. It was almost snuggled up to her as if it hoped that its present would be a comfort.

It butted its big head gently against her shoulder. Rumi hastily rubbed her eyes.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Rumi asked as she gently reached out and ran her fingers through the blue fur. Usually, she would have feared that someone would see the blue tiger but the roof was up so high that no one would see it even in the late afternoon. The tiger let out a content chuffing noise as it laid down beside her. Rumi started to pet it slowly. It was leaning into her touch.

“Are you trying to comfort me?” Rumi asked with a smile. Something about this big cat was adorable and creepy at the same time. With a flutter of wings the magpie appeared and sat down on the tiger’s head.

“I really need to ask Jinu for your names,” Rumi whispered out loud. As soon as the words had left her mouth, she flinched internally. His words were still ringing in her ears. Like the whisper of the devil trying to tempt her. The horrible thing was that it was working. She pulled out the phone from her pocket.

When it lit up a picture of Mira, Zoey and herself greeted her. They had taken it during their last stay at the hotel in Paris. They had their arms slung around each other, laughing wildly.

It hurt to hide it from them. The more she lied to them, the bigger the lies became. Hell, she still hadn’t even told them about the fact that Jinu was a demon. She needed someone who would not be scared to look at her, she needed someone who she was not forced to lie to and she needed someone who didn’t expect her to be perfect.

She unlocked the phone and before she could chicken out she called his number. The dial tone made her fingers tremble for a moment. After the third ring, he picked up.

“Hello?” His voice sounded just as soothing over the phone. Rumi hated herself a little for how his voice relaxed her.

“Hi,” Her voice came out hoarse and hesitant, so unlike herself. She felt as if she was balancing on a tightrope. One misstep and she would be lost to the darkness.

“Rumi?” He asked after a moment. A loud crash resounded from his side of the phone.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Rumi answered softly. He had recognized her voice almost immediately, the thought would have brought a light dusting of pink to her cheeks on any other day. Now it just made the ache in her worse.

“Where is the fire extinguisher?!” A voice was shouting in the background.

“It's good to hear your voice.” She heard the smile in his voice. Another scream resounded on his side of the call.

“Give me one moment,” Jinu said. He moved his phone away from his mouth.

“Abby, stop trying to weightlift the dining table with Baby sleeping on it!” He shouted. The words were muffled but Rumi was still able to hear them clearly.

“Romance, the fire extinguisher is in the hallway. Mystery, stop trying to set yourself on fire!” He added with a groan.

“I see things are a bit chaotic on your end,” Rumi said around a wet chuckle.

“You do not want to be here right now. It’s like I got four toddlers on my hands.” Jinu complained as soon as he held the phone closer again.

“It sounds fun,” Rumi said. It sounded just like the kind of distraction she needed. Her fingers were still trembling as she clutched the phone like a lifeline keeping her afloat.

“Oh, this is not fun,” Jinu said. Just as he finished his sentence. She heard a curse and a loud bang. A loud clatter resounded in her ear as the phone hit the ground.

“Jinu?” Rumi asked, alarmed. A distant pained groan was all the answer she received for a moment.

“Who left a baseball bat on the floor in the middle of the hallway?!” Jinu shouted. It seemed as if he had fallen over the baseball bat and crashed onto the ground.

“Sorry!” A distant voice shouted back. She could distantly hear Jinu curse about fitness fanatics leaving their equipment strewn around.

“Are you all right?” Rumi asked after he had picked up his phone from the floor. Her hands were no longer trembling.

“I am fine, my dignity however is not. Taken out by a baseball bat of all things.” Jinu grumbled. She couldn’t see it but Jinu was blushing. He had not wanted to let her witness his dorky side this quickly.

“Well, at least it was a homerun,” Rumi said with what she hoped was a wicked grin but it was probably more of a wobbly one.

“You wound me,” Jinu answered.

“How are you?” Jinu asked before she could tease him further.

“I’m good,” Rumi answered automatically. The lie rolled off her tongue effortlessly. She had used those words too often even when she was feeling far from good. It had become easy.

“No, you’re not. You’ve been crying,” Jinu said softly. She heard a door fall shut.

“How did you know?” She asked after a stunned moment of silence. She hadn’t expected him to see through it. Not even Celine, nor her friends could see through the masks of lies she wore daily.

“Your voice is all nasal and you sounded so hesitant when you greeted me,” he explained calmly.

“Wow, you really are a detective,” Rumi said with a chuckle. A demon was the first one that saw through her lies. It was kind of poetic.

Here she was, desperately trying to hide her demon side and a demon was the first one to discover it. He even accepted it.

“So what’s wrong?” Jinu asked.

“Just had a hard day.” Rumi evaded the question. It had become second nature to lie about how she was feeling.

“That’s a lie,” Jinu refuted her immediately, stunning her for a moment.

Maybe she could say the truth for once. He already knew about her darkest secret and he hadn’t looked at her any differently. Maybe it was okay to get some of it off her chest, even if it was a demon, her enemy, that was willing to listen.

“Sometimes it just feels like I am nothing more than a mistake.” The words fell from her lips like boulders. They were heavy and dark. Rumi focused on her fingers as they fiddled with the tiger's fur. The magpie was sleeping on its head.

“That’s not true, you are not a mistake,” Jinu protested immediately.

“You are not a mistake, you were never a mistake,” Jinu said with conviction.

It was the first time someone had refuted her out loud on those words. The first time someone said that she wasn’t just her mother’s mistake. Not just her mother’s shame.

“Thanks,” Rumi said around a sniffle. It felt like the floodgates had burst open and years of suppressed pain were rising, finally being let out.

Years of suppressed emotions that were clinging to her like oil clung to sea life after a shipwreck. Her pain and her emotions spilled from her lips. She couldn’t stop it nor did she want to. It felt good to say the words out loud.

“I am tired of hiding.” Rumi’s voice trembled as she said it. “I am so tired, Jinu.”

Before he could answer or offer her comfort, she kept on talking.

“I feel like I am drowning. There is just so much that relies on me,” Rumi confessed. She had never before said that her duties felt like a burden.

“You don’t need to shoulder it alone. You have Mira and Zoey, they want to share your burdens. They adore you and they want to help,” Jinu answered. He was talking faster than earlier and sounded almost excited, like he was hoping that she would tell them.

“They will hate me.” Rumi’s deepest fear was rising to the surface. The root of her fear. The thought alone of those closest to her hating her or even worse fearing her made pain burn in her veins.

“I can’t tell them, I can’t tell them that my father was a demon.” Rumi’s voice was nothing more than a whisper.

“Of course you can.” His voice nearly stumbled over the words with how quickly they left him.

“They will remain by your side ,even with the patterns on your skin.” His voice was taking on a more calm and soothing tone. At his words, she barely managed to suppress the flinch at the word ‘patterns.’ God, she was a mess.

“I am not allowed to tell them,” Rumi admitted after a moment.

“Who said that?” Jinu’s voice had suddenly gained a sharp edge. Like he was ready to fight anyone that dared to harm her.

“Celine. A hunter must always be strong, there can be no flaw or weakness,” Rumi continued. She needed to be perfect. That's all she strived for. Once the Honmoon was golden she could truly be the girl they all thought she was.

“That’s bullshit.” Jinu’s blunt words shattered her thoughts.

“Is it her secret?” Jinu asked sharply.

“No, but it affects her. She raised me,” Rumi continued.

“It’s not her secret, it's yours. It's just yours and only you get to decide what to do with it,” Jinu explained plainly.

“But-,” Rumi tried to protest.

“No, those patterns are yours so only you get to decide when and to whom you talk about them.” Jinu’s voice was insistent. It was even shaking slightly and he was clearly agitated. Rumi clutched the phone close.

“You were born and raised as a hunter, of course you will view the patterns as something bad. It’s okay to feel the way you feel about them, but you cannot keep it all bottled up.” Jinu’s voice had not yet completely returned to its soothing cadence. He was clearly struggling to remain calm.

“You need to let it all out and talk to someone about it,” Jinu said.

“I am talking with you about it,” Rumi answered softly, which was already something unexpected. She would have never thought that she could talk to anybody about it. She had thought she would never speak of her patterns nor her heritage even after Honmoon was golden.

“Which is already amazing, but Rumi, I am neither of your best friends,” Jinu answered gently.

“Even if I would look great in both Mira and Zoey’s fit.” Jinu teased lightly, clearly trying to lighten the mood a bit. Rumi couldn’t quite help the chuckle that left her lips at the image it conjured.

“You need them.” Jinu’s voice was soothing but also strong.

“I know,” Rumi whispered.

“Talk to them and they will listen. They will understand a part of your struggle I cannot help with,” Jinu said. He was right. He could share her shame and her fear of the patterns but he was no hunter. He was a demon, an enemy but also empathetic and ridiculously kind. She had never encountered a demon before that would try to comfort a crying woman.

“I can’t,” Rumi repeated. Her fear was keeping her rooted to the ground. She felt like she was stuck, unable to move forward. Trapped in a web of lies made by herself. A spider caught in her own web.

“You don’t have to tell them immediately,” Jinu said softly.

“But you also cannot hide behind your fear forever,” Jinu continued. Rumi winced at his words. He had hit the bullseye.

“Only you get to decide what to do about your patterns.” Jinu’s voice was warm and so unbearably kind. It caused her throat to close up.

Rumi didn’t know how to answer. It was the first time someone had put it like that. She glanced at the patterns on her arms.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped.” Jinu’s voice came after the silence had dragged on.

“You didn’t,” Rumi whispered. Her mind was in turmoil.

“Good, don’t let anyone tell you that you are a mistake,” Jinu said sternly.

“You are good at this,” Rumi said softly.

“Well, I am a sinner and no saint. I know enough of shame and self-loathing. Plus, being stuck in a place of eternal suffering and dying gives things a new perspective.” Jinu chuckled. There was something pained in his voice.

“You called your marks your shame.” Rumi remembered.

“They are a constant reminder of my mistakes.” Jinu admitted.

“A bit hypocritical, no?” Rumi asked in a light tone.

“To call the patterns your shame but say that mine are not,” Rumi softly said.

“You were born with them, nothing you did created the patterns whereas mine were born from my choices. I was selfish, greedy and a total bastard,” Jinu said in a dark tone.

“Jinu,” She wanted to protest more but before she could he kept on talking.

“I spent too long trying to erase my shame. It only made it worse,” Jinu continued. It felt like the words that were spilling from his lips were a release. As if it felt good to say it out loud for once. He had tried so hard to help her, the least she could do was listen to him. To listen to the words he seemed desperate to say.

“I spent years running from my mistakes, trying to drown out the cries of my mother and sister. The more you run the worse it gets until it drowns you.” Jinu’s voice was soft and gentle yet they also held a sorrow that seemed bone deep. The words were drenched in sadness. Rumi wanted to reach out and touch him. To bring some kind of comfort.

“I will always live with this guilt. The guilt for abandoning them, the guilt for serving Gwi-Ma for hundreds of years and the guilt for being selfish. That guilt cannot however dedicate my every action. I will never forget,” Jinu said.

“Jinu,” Again she was only able to say his name as words failed her.

“That doesn’t mean that there is no hope. The funny thing about hope is, no one decides when you feel it.” Jinu chuckled.

“I feel it just talking with you,” Jinu admitted and Rumi felt her heart stumble. She frantically searched for a way to change the topic. Her heart couldn’t take anymore of his sincerity.

“This is the third time you said that you died,” Rumi remarked bluntly. She winced at herself, this was the worst way she could have changed the subject. She was blundering along with this conversation. She didn’t know how to comfort him. She couldn’t even manage her own shame. Jinu answered her without hesitance, as if he wasn’t bothered by her rude remark.

“I died and woke up again,” Jinu answered plainly. He made it sound like a simple change in the weather report. He made it sound mundane. She had never thought that she would ever hear someone speak about death in such a way.

“How did you wake up again?” Rumi asked.

“Magic,” Jinu answered seriously. Rumi blinked in confusion for a moment.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” he admitted after a moment of sceptical silence.

“I am glad that I am here though.” She could hear the smile through his voice.

“I am glad too,” she admitted in a whisper. She startled as loud banging echoed from his phone.

“The gremlins want something from me.” A tired sigh left his lips.

“The toddlers want their father.” Rumi teased.

“God, don’t let them hear that. They will really start calling me dad.” Revulsion had drenched his voice. She let out a laugh.

“I have to go, they need me apparently,” Jinu said. It sounded as if he didn’t want to hang up.

“Don’t let your children wait,” Rumi sing-songed.

“Stop that.” He answered.

“Thank you for listening to me.” A touch of vulnerability had entered her voice.

“Anytime, you can call me anytime.” Jinu solemnly spoke.

“Bye,” She blurted out. God, she sounded awkward. She didn’t know how to smoothly end the call.

"Ehm, bye!" Jinu echoed her words hastily. At least he sounded just as awkward as her.

Chapter Text

“Good morning, listeners, today we have some very special guests!” The host's voice echoed. Jinu and his members were currently doing a radio show in the broadcasting station.

“The Saja Boys!” Even though the people listening couldn’t see them, the host made a sweeping gesture. Jinu was sitting in the middle, opposite of the host. The table was filled with the microphones, equipment and cables. Jinu had already put his water bottle on the floor because he feared that something would spill. One of the staff hurriedly adjusted the mic for him, since it was positioned a bit too low.

“Hello, we are the Saja Boys!” Jinu and the others chorused in perfect synchronisation.

“It is a pleasure to have you here,” he said.

“No, the pleasure and honor is completely ours,” Jinu answered smoothly.

They talked about their debut and Soda pop but also about Lost Voices and Temptation. They were asked about the inspirations behind the songs. Jinu shared an amused glance with the others before answering the question in a way that didn’t hint at anything unnatural. They congratulated them on their first win on the show. It was a pleasant conversation.

“Fans had the option to hand in questions for the next section,” the host said, as he pulled out a large bowl.

“In total, there were over one hundred questions that were submitted but sadly we only have time for fifteen, we placed them inside this bowl and each member gets to randomly draw three questions,” he continued on, as he handed the bowl around. The room was also being filmed and the video would be uploaded to the Youtube channel of the broadcasting station. It took a moment but soon they all had three slips of paper with the questions.

“Romance, why don’t you start with the first question?” At his words, Romance unfolded his first slip of paper.

“If you had to steal a member's clothes, whose would it be,” Romance read out loud. He tapped his chin with his finger, clearly thinking about the question for a moment.

“We all know that it wouldn’t be Abby,” Jinu said with a snicker.

“Ey, what’s wrong with my clothes?!” Abby protested.

“Either they are the clothes of a himbo, or they are flimsy,” Baby commented from the other side of the table.

“And how does a himbo dress?” The host asked with barely concealed laughter.

“Like that,” Baby said and pointed towards the Hawaiian shirt Abby was wearing. The shirt seemed to be straining at the buttons. Either he bought all his shirts at least a size too small, or they shrunk in the wash.

“They get torn too often and too easily.” Mystery nodded in agreement.

“Jinu, or Mystery,” Romance answered after a moment.

“Who makes the most mistakes during practice?” Mystery read out the next question.

“Dance practice or vocal practice?” Jinu asked immediately. Because there was a difference.

“Both,” the host answered.

“For dance it is Romance, and for vocal it's Baby,” Jinu answered.

“I am made for rapping not for singing.” Baby immediately grumbled.

“Still, you keep mispronouncing words or mixing them up,” Abby said with a grin, as he poked Baby’s cheek who immediately tried to bite his finger.

“Why not focus on the fact that our clumsiest member is an absolutely perfectly oiled machine when it comes to dance.” Baby groaned with a sigh.

“Jinu without music is like a stumbling baby deer and with music as smooth as a panther,” Abby said with a nod.

“A deer?” Jinu exclaimed with fake outrage.

“Also, he is a tiger and not a panther,” Mystery corrected seriously. The host was hiding his chuckles behind his hand.

“Just get to the next question.” Jinu almost pleaded before they could compare him to more clumsy animals.

“Do any of you have siblings?” Abby read the question out loud. He froze just as the other members. They shared uneasy glances among themselves. Jinu felt as if an arrow pierced his heart. He didn’t know why but something compelled him to lean forward and answer truthfully.

“I don’t have any siblings,” Romance and Abby answered.

“I am an only child,” Baby said.

“Also spoiled like one,” Abby teased as he evaded the pen Baby threw towards him.

“I have a little sister,” Jinu answered. At his words the others looked at him with wide eyes. He had a little sister. She might no longer be alive and he might have betrayed her but he would always remain her older brother. Just as she would always be his little sister. Talking to Rumi the night before had brought the feelings and the memories closer to the surface.

He remembered his little sister following him around when she was a toddler. Her little hands trying to reach for him just as she had reached for him when he had betrayed her and his mother. He looked down.

Underneath the table, he was clutching his phone. Rumi had sent him a picture that morning. Derpy had spent the night beside her, offering her comfort. His clumsy tiger had managed to get completely entangled in Rumi’s sheets, while the magpie sat on the bedside lamp and silently judged. Thinking of her made the burn of his shame recede a bit.

During the phone call yesterday, he had longed to hug her even if he would have gotten a sword to the stomach for his efforts. She had sounded so distraught. He hated that she was hurting. He itched with the urge to help. He could try to help but in the end Rumi had to decide for herself.

Just as he had to decide himself what to do with the burning shame inside of him. He could let it fester or he could use it to fuel his retribution.

Silence had spread out in the broadcasting studio as Jinu was lost in thoughts. The other members stared at him. They knew that his family was a touchy subject. The host looked between them with a worried frown. He had noticed the sudden awkwardness. The other members shared a look and nodded at each other.

“I will read the next question,” Baby said, hoping to lift the mood and distract from the sudden awkward silence. The others including the host send him a grateful look.

“Who is the member most likely to get lost at sea?” Baby read out loud with a confused tilt of his head.

“Romance has the worst sense of direction,” Abby immediately answered.

“But I can’t swim, so even with a sense of direction I would be lost.” Romance lamented. He had given up trying to defend himself in regards to his sense of direction. He had walked the wrong way to their flat not once but four times. His members were relentless in their teasing.

“You can’t swim?” Mystery said with a frown. It seemed that it was new information to the members.

Jinu felt his usual calm slowly return as they kept the conversation going. He took a deep breath, he could lament his choices and his fate later. He needed to focus.

“He needs swimming lessons, who knows when we will do something near a large body of water,” Jinu said decisively.

“We could try going to the pool this weekend,” Abby added. He had wanted to try the pool out anyways.

“There is no need for that.” Romance tried to wave them off.

“Our manager would love to teach you.” Mystery was grinning mischievously. Jelly would cry happy tears. The others snickered in agreement.

“Swimming lessons for Romance will be added to our schedule.” Jinu decided and Romance just nodded in defeated agreement.

“No worries, I will document the whole thing,” Baby said with an evil grin.

“What was your favourite song to record?” Jinu had the next question.

“Oh, a lot of fans must be very curious about that.” The host had rejoined the conversation.

“Soda Pop,” Romance answered immediately.

“Lost Voices,” Mystery, Baby and Jinu answered.

“Temptation,” Abby said with a grin.

“Why is it each of your favourites?" The host followed up on the question.

“It's fun and the melody is really catchy,” Romance answered immediately.

“Lost Voices is very cathartic to sing,” Jinu said after a moment of thought. The song was a reminder of the darkness hiding beneath their feet. The others nodded in agreement.

“I really like the lyrics and the mood the song sets,” Abby added after a moment.

“Jinu writes most of the lyrics, right?” The Host asked with a friendly smile.

“All of them, he writes all of them,” the others chorused as one. The sudden synchronisation pulled a few chuckles from their lips.

“Do you have the next comeback planned already?” It was once again Romance’s turn.

“Oh, Jinu has got some songs ready but we haven’t decided yet,” Abby answered.

“Jinu’s got a lot of songs prepared.” Romance nodded in agreement.

“Sometimes we worry that all he does is write songs instead of sleeping,” Mystery said. Jinu knew that the members were a bit worried about his sleep schedule. Demons didn’t need nearly as much sleep as humans but Jinu slept even less than that.

Often when the members were snoring around him, he would be writing down song lyrics or ideas in the dark. He had the problem that either he couldn’t fall asleep or that nightmares haunted his sleep far too often for him to get a good sleep schedule.

“I sleep sometimes,” Jinu said with a shrug and reassuring smile.

“Sometimes is not enough.” Abby glared at him. Jinu already had to sit through one lecture about the benefits of sleep and the negative effects of a lack of sleep. Abby took his health and the health of his comrades very seriously.

“I will try to sleep more.” Jinu amended before Abby would start his lecture again.

The rest of the broadcast was smooth sailing. Some of the questions were a bit weird. One of the fans asked if they would choose to be singers even if they were worms much to their confusion. They answered the rest of the questions with ease. After the small Q&A, they performed their songs live. Some idle chitchat followed the performances and soon the host said goodbye to them and the regular program followed. Afterwards, they stumbled into the waiting room the station had prepared for its guests. They were on the fourth floor, so Abby didn’t think much of it and opened the blinds to let some light in.

“Eh, Jinu I think there might be a bit of a problem,” Abby commented with wide eyes. The others rushed to his side. Outside on the roof of the building next door, a rift had opened. Demons but also faceless demons were crawling out of it.

“Gwi-Ma is getting desperate,” Baby said with a grimace.

“They will attack the civilians as well,” Romance said.

“We can’t let them,” Jinu said with a growl.

“What are you planning?” Mystery said, as he grabbed Jinu’s arm to stop him from running out of the room.

“They are after me, I will lead them to a secluded area,” Jinu said, trying to break free from Mystery's grip.

“Alone?” Abby had a disapproving frown on his face.

“We will not allow you to go alone,” Baby said with a glare. Jinu knew that they were worried about him but he couldn’t do nothing.

“Guys, I don’t think he needs to do anything,” Romance said as he pointed outside.

Huntrix had arrived. They stood on the roof, facing the demons in their black leather outfits. Jinu could see Rumi’s braid sway in the wind.

oOo

“Why are there suddenly so many?!” Mira exclaimed as she swung her weapon.

“I don’t know!” Zoey exclaimed as she evaded a demon’s attack.

“Gwi-Ma is getting desperate,” Rumi concluded as she swung her sword through the air. Desperate because the Honmoon was so close to being golden but also desperate because of something else. Jinu’s gentle voice whispered in her ear again. One of the demons blocked her blade and Rumi leaned closer. Mira and Zoey were kept busy on the other side.

“Is he whispering in your ear as well?” Rumi asked. The demon growled at her. She barely avoided the claw that reached for her face.

“His voice leads to glory.” The demon howled, as his long black claw drew sparks when she blocked him. Jinu had warned her that there were those that relished in Gwi-Ma’s cruelty. She would have no qualms in chopping this one's head off then. Rumi rolled out of the way of the next attack and used the momentum to quickly get back onto her feet.

“I found him!” Another demon cackled loudly from somewhere within the mass of faceless demons. Suddenly, the faceless demons let up and rushed towards the building next to the one they were currently fighting on. Rumi looked up and only one window didn’t have the blinds down. Jinu was looking at her.

These demons weren’t sent out to deal with them, nor were they sent out to hunt souls. Gwi-Ma had sent them to get rid of Jinu. Gwi-Ma was afraid of Jinu’s voice.
Rumi would have to deal with the realization later. For now, she and her girls had to take care of these demons.

Throughout the fight, she could feel Jinu’s eyes on her. If she used flashier moves than usual she was the only one that knew. They managed to keep the demons from climbing up. Rumi got lost in the dance of her blade. The metal shone with light as it tore through the demons like butter.

By the time the last demon was vanquished Rumi felt tired. Her hair was a mess, a lot of strands had come loose from her braid. Mira and Zoey didn’t look much better.

“God, I need a bath,” Mira said with a groan.

“That sounds like a dream,” Zoey said as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

“Want to join us in the bathhouse?” Mira asked even though she kind of already knew the answer. She looked at Rumi and couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. Rumi had been acting a bit strange since the conversation with Celine. She was quieter than usual and more lost in thoughts. Maybe Mira would have to talk with her later.

“I need a shower, so no bathhouse for me today.” Rumi waved them off with a practiced grin. Mira and Zoey shared a look.

“You guys can go on ahead, I will follow you in a moment,” Rumi said reassuringly. She pointed down towards her leather boots, the string had gotten utterly entangled. She was happy for the excuse.

Mira and Zoey went on ahead. Rumi retied her boots and afterwards when she looked back up, the window was open and Jinu was leaning against the window frame.

He sent her a thumbs up as if to say good job. Rumi rolled her eyes and he laughed. She couldn’t quite help the grin that spread across her lips.

She waved towards him and he waved back before she climbed down from the roof to make her way home.

Chapter Text

Jinu watched Rumi fight and not for the first time he was in awe of her beauty. She was always beautiful but with her blade in her hand she was something special. There was something otherworldly, something magical about her when her blade bathed her in light. She was too gorgeous for words.

Her blade cut through the enemies. She twirled around and avoided an enemy attack easily. Her hair danced in the wind. Jinu couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“They were sent for you.” Mystery noted, as the demons tried to crawl up the wall when they caught sight of Jinu.

“He is trying to get rid of you,” Romance concluded with a savage grin. The hunter trio was decimating the demons.

“Sending the Faceless Ones is a bold move.” Baby noted.

“More of a bad move, they are harder for him to control and they consume much of his power,” Abby commented. Faceless Ones didn’t have a consciousness and just devoured everything in their path, which made them great for larger enemy groups but they were atrocious at hunting down one specific target.

“I don’t understand, he wouldn’t do such a reckless move under normal circumstances,” Romance said.

“They are unaffected by Jinu’s voice, which is why he probably sent them,” Abby added. Without a consciousness they were immune to Jinu’s voice which made them a good counter. Gwi-Ma was able to see through their eyes.

“He is getting desperate,” Baby concluded.

“He is burning through the souls at an alarming rate and he is getting less and less souls,” Romance continued as he fiddled with the rose that was in his breast pocket.

“A fire that is not getting enough oxygen,” Mystery muttered. He had taken to watching any and all documentaries he could get his hands on. He was not picky. They ranged from documentaries about volcanoes to those about historic events. The last one he watched was about forges and glassblowing. They had talked about how to control the heat of the fire. Mystery was like a sponge just absorbing all the knowledge he could.

They watched with admiration as the three women destroyed the demons one after the other until almost none were left. Rumi jumped over one of the demons and twirled in the air before bringing her sword down. It cleaved the demon nearly in half. She was smiling as she cut them up.

“I do not want to be on the receiving end of their weapons,” Baby commented idly as he watched Mira cut a demon in half. Zoey was grinning as demons got destroyed by her weapons.

“They are vicious,” Jinu said with a grin. He admired it. They were as lethal as they were pretty. Though Rumi was by far the most beautiful of the three.

“They are also very hot,” Abby said idly. Romance nodded in agreement.

“Do not drool over them as well, it's enough that Jinu is swooning over the purple huntress,” Baby commented with a roll of his eyes.

“I do not swoon,” Jinu protested immediately. He looked truly affronted.

“Seriously?” Baby looked at him, unimpressed.

“You currently have literal hearts in your eyes,” he continued.

“He is in loveeeeee,” Romance sing-songed. Jinu took the nearest object, a paper cup, and threw it at Romance’s head.

“Oh, they are nearly done with the clean up,” Abby commented idly. They watched as the last demon got turned into dust. Zoey and Mira waved and left earlier. Rumi ducked down to tie her shoes before she looked up. Their eyes met and the other four let out a startled noise.

“Shit!” Romance shouted.

“Hide!”, Baby hissed.

Abby, Romance, Mystery and Baby dropped onto the floor to make sure that she didn’t see them. Jinu barely suppressed the snort that wanted to escape his lips.

He sent a thumb up towards Rumi. When she rolled her eyes he couldn't help the laughter. He could see her grin even with the distance. She had a beautiful smile, the kind of smile that one couldn’t help but return. She waved and he waved back and even that simple gesture made his heart skip a beat. She disappeared from the roof and Jinu was helplessly watching her leave.

“He’s got it bad,” Baby said from his sprawled position on the floor. The four of them made no attempts to get up.

“So bad,” Abby added. Jinu kicked his butt lightly in retaliation.

“Ah, abuse!” Abby wailed as he rolled out of the way. The others started laughing.

“This was the second time he tried to get to you,” Mystery commented quietly. He was fiddling with the sleeves of his hoodie.

“First time since he sent the Faceless Ones since our Soda Pop street performance,” Jinu answered.

“He sees you as a real threat,” Abby added.

“You are preventing him from getting the souls he needs,” Romance said.

“He is afraid of you,” Baby said with a wicked grin.

“He is also growing weaker.” Jinu was wearing a self-satisfied grin.

“Even an injured dog still knows how to bite,” Mystery added with a frown. He looked worried.

“I will not underestimate him.” Jinu promised.

“He will probably send the kind of demons that will ignore your voice and the peace it brings,” Baby said. Even he sounded worried when he was usually so aloof.

“He will try to bite,” Mystery mumbled.

They were worried about him and a small part of Jinu was touched by the gesture. Before he could comment on it, Ha-yun knocked on the door. She peeked into the room.

“Why are you laying on the floor?” Ha-yun asked with a confused expression.

“Just contemplating love and life,” Baby said with a wave of his hand.

“Ah, sure.” Ha-yun nodded as if it made sense.

“They are ready for the photoshoot now.” Ha-yun explained why she had come to get them. It was time for the photoshoot. There would be special broadcast photocards fans could win. They followed her out of the waiting room one after the other.

oOo

Rumi was sitting on her bed. She was humming a melody. In her hands, she was holding a notebook with scribbled lyrics. She had this melody stuck in her head since she left the roof, but couldn’t find the right words to go with it. She let the book drop and rolled onto her back with a sigh.

The magpie landed on her bed and looked at her with curious eyes. The tiger was asleep on her carpet beside the bed. It was snoring softly.
“None of these lyrics are turning out like I want them to,” Rumi complained to the bird.

The magpie let out a soft craw and Rumi reached out to gently run her fingers through the glossy feathers.

A knock resounded and Rumi scrambled to sit up. The tiger slowly lifted its head clearly still half asleep.

“Hide!” She whispered towards the tiger and the magpie. The magpie fluttered over to the tiger’s side. She quickly made her way to her door. In her hurry she accidentally knocked over the trashcan. The tiger had been slowly sinking into the portal beneath its feet and the sight of the trashcan, it stopped. Its eyes grew large.

She opened her door, and Mira was standing on the other side. She was already in her sleepwear. An adorable long shirt with a fluffy, white bear on it. It was in stark contrast to the usual image Mira displayed but she had a serious weakness for cute things. She had a whole army of stuffed teddies.

“Do you want to come in?” Rumi asked when Mira made no movement to step over the threshold. It was like a switch was flipped and the hesitant Mira disappeared and the bold Mira took over.

“I mean yeah if you want me to come in I can come in!” Mira said with a grin as she walked past Rumi into the room. She closed the door behind her and caught a glance of the tiger trying to right a trash can. Rumi barely managed to stop herself from cursing out loud. As Mira sat down on her bed, Rumi quickly rightened the trashcan and threw a blanket over the tiger, hoping that it looked enough like a pile of dirty laundry for Mira to ignore it. Mira turned around and looked at the blanket pile.

“Jeez, your laundry pile has gotten bigger than mine,” Mira whistled. She had of course immediately noticed.

“I will get to it tomorrow,” Rumi answered with a nervous chuckle and a wave of her hand.

“Are you all right?” Mira asked her with a frown as she noted Rumi’s wide-eyed expression.

“I’m fine.” Rumi hoped her smile was convincing enough.

“What did Celine want last time?” Mira asked. She had wanted to ask earlier but by the time Zoey and her had decided to bring it up Rumi had been asleep. Mira had knocked that evening but received no answer,so she had backed off, not wanting to disturb her. Zoey and Mira were still worried. So they had decided that they should try to talk to her again. They hadn’t wanted to overwhelm Rumi so they settled on only one of them talking to her. Zoey had suggested that Mira should talk to her since she was the one that could relate to Rumi the most. She had gotten instructions to hug Rumi tightly at least once from Zoey. Mira was not good at these heartfelt conversations but she would do her best to help her friend.

Rumi made a gesture towards the tiger to hide before she sat down besides Mira.

“Just the usual, a sponsor banquet, Idol Awards schedule and another reminder that we need to turn the Honmoon golden.” Rumi listed on her fingers.

“Her usual spiel then,” Mira said with a roll of her eyes.

“Zoey and I noticed that you didn’t look good when you left the office,” Mira added softly. They had tried calling out for her, but Rumi had run past them without seeing them. They had decided to give her some space. Mira was still unsure if it was the right decision. While she was worried about Rumi, her friend was worried about something else. Namely the flickering tiger tail that could be seen from beneath the blanket. Rumi decided to ignore it as best as she could.

“It wasn’t a big deal, just her usual speech getting to me a bit,” Rumi said. The word ‘mistake’ still echoed in her ears.

“Her expectations for us seem like a steep mountain,” Mira said with a sigh. Celine always expected the best from them and often it was motivating but sometimes it felt like a shackle dragging them down.

“She wants us to be the best hunters and idols we can be,” Rumi answered with practiced ease. Celine meant well but it was not always easy to follow along the path she laid out.

“She wants us to be bloody perfect all the time,” Mira muttered clearly frustrated. It was impossible to be perfect. Mira had grown up with expectations. Her family had many. It was nothing but endless pressure. Zoey and Rumi were her family and she loved them, but sometimes it felt like she had gone from one pressure chamber to the next. She could deal with pressure, she was used to it but she feared that both Zoey and Rumi could buckle underneath it.

“I love her but sometimes it is hard to be around her,” Rumi admitted honestly. Her phone call with Jinu lingered. Admitting the truth about how she felt was refreshing. It felt as if she was taking the first steps out into the sun, as if she was dipping her toes into the water for the first time.

“She raised you and sometimes those that raise us leave scars,” Mira said. Her family had left enough scars.

“I sometimes feel as if she is not looking at me but at an ideal version of me,” Rumi said softly. The words were barely more than a whisper.

“We see and love you,” Mira answered immediately in a loud voice. Mira was usually shy with her affection but sometimes she was brutally honest.

“Love you too,” Rumi’s smile was a bit watery as her lips wobbled. They hadn’t seen all of her yet but maybe they would soon.

“Celine loves you a lot but she is also distant,” Mira said with a tired sigh. Sometimes the only emotion one could see was her faint smile. It was as if she had closed off parts of her heart. They all knew that losing Rumi’s mum had damaged something within her. On some days grief was clearly written on her features when she looked at Rumi.

“Sometimes I fear that she only sees my mum in me,” Rumi admitted. She was fiddling with the sleeves of her hoodie.

“Which is not fair to you,” Mira grumbled.

“She wants me to be perfect like my mum,” Rumi whispered. Her mother was perfection in Celine’s eyes. She idolised her. From time to time Rumi had the feeling as if Celine never truly processed her grief. Celine was a conundrum, on the one hand she called her mother perfect and on the other she called the fact that she loved a demon a mistake. So not even her mother was flawless in Celine’s eyes, so how was Rumi ever supposed to be?

“Perfect never worked out for me or my family,” Mira added with a sigh. She had never lived up to her family’s expectations. She had always been the black sheep of the family. Rumi felt her heart ache. Mira hardly talked about her family. The only one she had sporadic contact with was her older brother. Since Rumi had known her, Mira had never once gotten a call for her birthday. She laid her hand on Mira’s arm in an attempt of comfort.

“Don’t let her force you into being someone you aren’t.” Mira said as she took Rumi’s hands and squeezed. Both of them were similar but they dealt with the pressure in different ways. Where Mira rebelled, Rumi took the criticisms inward and strove to reach the impossible ideal. It was hurting her. Zoey and her saw it but they didn't know what to do. They didn't know how to help.

“‘Perfect’ sucks. You just need to be yourself,” Mira promised. She hoped that Rumi believed her and even if she didn’t she would repeat herself as many times as it took.

“Mira,” Rumi said softly. Underneath the hard exterior, Mira was someone that was just so kind. She squeezed her hands in return. She was truly blessed to have such friends. Her heart ached at having to lie to them.

“Celine means well.” She weakly defended her mentor. Celine loved her, she knew that but Celine was raised with prejudice against demons and having a half demon child as her protegee was not easy. She tried her best and Rumi loved her for it but she also hurt her because she couldn’t accept all of her. It hurt but Celine never intended to hurt her.

“Good intentions don't mean anything when what she's doing is hurting you,” Mira said in a sage tone. She was talking from experience. Her parents always had the best intentions but they had been suffocating.

“When did you become so wise?” Rumi said with a wet chuckle.

“Since Zoey made me watch all those historic dramas,” Mira said with a snicker. Clearly trying to lighten the mood. She tried to steer the conversation towards happier topics but Rumi was still stuck on the previous topic.

“As soon as the Honmoon is golden, Celine will be less rigid,” Rumi added wistfully. It was what she hoped for. Once her patterns were gone things would be so much easier.

“Sometimes the golden Honmoon just sounds like an excuse to make us work harder, as if we're not doing that already,” Mira muttered.

“It will keep out Gwi-Ma and demons from our world forever,” Rumi said. Those words had once been her comfort and now they felt wrong. The certainty that it would be her salvation was crumbling. Jinu’s face flashed before her eyes. Would he get trapped in the hell he had escaped from? Her heart ached at the thought of condemning him to more suffering. She gently removed her hands from Mira's

“I can't wait! Those demons don’t deserve to live, and soon they will be trapped in the underworld for all eternity, where they belong” Mira said with a grin. Rumi felt a stabbing pain at her words. They weren’t directed at her at all. She knew that but it still hurt. Her throat hurt. She wanted to say it so badly, she wanted to say, ‘I am part demon, don’t I deserve to live?’ Her lies felt like glass shards in her throat. She was trapped in an endless circle. Her lies led to more lies, it was like a snake biting its own tail.

“Soon it will be over,” Rumi muttered. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. Maybe Jinu was right, she couldn’t outrun her shame.

“Zoey mentioned that the Saja Boys were guests at the broadcast station we fought next to.” Mira suddenly changed the subject with a smirk.

“Why are you telling me this ?” Rumi eyed her friend suspiciously. She did not mention that she had actually seen Jinu. They had waved at each other. She had ignored how that simple interaction had made her feel so much lighter.

“I thought you might wanna use his voice as a lullaby,” Mira said with a waggle of her eyebrows.

“Out!” Rumi said as she threw a pillow in her general direction. With the cackle of a mad witch, Mira made her way towards the door.

“You can talk to us about anything,” Mira promised solemnly before she left the room. Celine’s voice echoed in her ears that she couldn’t talk to them about anything.

“Good night!” Mira called as the door shut behind her. Rumi’s answering call echoed in her room.

The pile of blankets next to her bed moved and a large head popped out. Two large eyes looked at her. The magpie struggled for a moment before its head appeared out of one of her sweater’s sleeves.

“Good boy, keeping so quiet,” Rumi whispered as she rubbed his chin. The tiger let out a happy chuffing noise.

She ran her fingers through the thick blue fur. She felt as if she was being pulled in too many directions. After her call with Jinu, she had felt on secure ground for the first time in ages and now that ground was already slipping again.

She had spent years working towards the golden Honmoon and now it felt as if it was getting farther from her reach.

It was supposed to banish all demons. Even those that ran to the human realm to seek refuge from their king. It was supposed to banish her marks. She wished she had told them about them already. Each lie made it worse. It was a prison of her own making.

She looked at the tiger. It was a demon, just as the ones that stole souls and yet nothing about it felt malicious. It was cute.

Jinu was a demon and nothing about him was like the demons she had encountered so far. She herself was a half-demon. She touched her upper arm, beneath the hoodie the familiar patterns were hiding.

Jinu wanted an alliance. He wanted to banish Gwi-Ma just as much as the hunters wanted him gone. She decided to believe him.

She got up and walked over to her desk. She opened the cupboard. A blue card with a duck and save the date written above it was inside.

It was time to set the terms of this alliance. She handed the tiger the card and watched as he disappeared in the blue glowing portal.

Rumi crawled back into bed. She opened her phone and almost unconsciously she opened the broadcasting app. The app made it possible to listen and even watch previous broadcasts.

She fell asleep to Jinu’s voice.

Chapter Text

Rumi was a silent hunter. She was lying in wait for her prey to feel safe. Jinu was leaning against the old city wall, fiddling with the card she had sent. Like a tiger stalking its prey, she slowly moved closer. She jumped onto the wall and Jinu let out the noise of a startled tea kettle.

She snickered at his flailing. He glared at her but there was a playful spark to it.

“Did you call me out here just so you could jumpscare me?” Jinu asked, as he pressed a hand to his heart. He had anticipated that she would try to scare him again but he had still failed in being prepared for it.

“Follow me,” Rumi said and Jinu fell into step beside her.

“You could have chosen a better location for our first date,” Jinu commented as he followed her along the path. He grinned as she stumbled over nothing.

“Date?!” Rumi sputtered. She felt her cheeks flush bright red. Jinu couldn't help but find her cute.

“This is not a date!” She exclaimed. Jinu held up the card she had sent him and pointed to the text ‘Save the Date’ on it.

“That doesn’t mean date date, ugh you are so old!” Rumi groaned as she snatched the card out of his hand.

“I do look good for my age,” Jinu said as he ran a hand through his hair. He sent her a playful wink. Rumi rolled her eyes.

“Old man,” Rumi muttered under her breath. She evaded Jinu’s elbow gracefully.

“Rude,” Jinu said with a roll of his eyes. They seemed to be almost twinkling.

“Our first date will be special.” Jinu grinned at her. He might have been a bit overeager because he had like four different date plans completely figured out and thought through. Not that he would ever tell her that.

“Who says we will even have a first date?” Rumi asked with an arched eyebrow. She ignored the blush that had risen to her checks.

“Oh, we will.” Jinu purred at her. He reminded her of a large cat that had caught the canary. He was utterly unrepentant.

“Who says that I will even say yes to a date?” Rumi said. She kept on walking. Jinu was keeping up with her easily.

“You will say yes.” Jinu was walking beside her. Their shoulders were brushing. Each time it felt like little sparks were dancing along her shoulder. The sensation lingered a reminder that they had touched even for a moment.

“A bit overconfident, no?” Rumi said dryly, trying to hide the way her heart was beating overtime.

“Just the right amount of confidence,” Jinu said with a laugh. The light of the setting sun gave his face a warm glow. The shades and shadows underlined his face in such a way that made it look almost ethereal. It made his eyes shine like polished stone. He looked unfairly handsome in the light of the sundset. Rumi had to look away for a moment or else she feared that she would make a fool of herself.

They came to a stop at a section of the wall where they had a beautiful view of the city. Secretly, they both thought that the other was more beautiful than the view.

“On a serious note, why did you call me out here?” Jinu asked, as he leaned against the wall. Rumi had jumped up onto the wall. She was watching the city lights.

“Help us seal the Honmoon,” Rumi requested.

“I am not sure how we can help, but we will try,” Jinu answered with a confused tilt of his head.

“We?” Rumi asked.

“Ah, there are multiple demons that have defected from Gwi-Ma’s side,” Jinu admitted.

“They follow you because of your voice,” Rumi concluded. Jinu nodded.

“You don’t know the effect your voice has on the Honmoon.” Rumi noted as she watched Jinu closely.

“My voice affects the Honmoon?” Jinu asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

“You didn’t notice? I thought demons could see the Honmoon,” Rumi said.

“We can see it when we are in the underworld, in the human realm it is blurry, we can only see the vague outline,” Jinu explained.

“I influence the Honmoon?” He asked again. He pointed at himself. His expression was completely bewildered. He hadn’t known at all.

“It glows in rainbow colours,” Rumi informed him and she watched as comprehension dawned on his face.

“Oh,” he whispered the words. He seemed to have realized something.

“You are a marvel,” Jinu said as he looked at her with awe. Rumi had to look away from his admiration. She was used to the admiration of her fans but seeing Jinu looking at her like that made her feel all flustered.

“Let’s try something. I want to check if your voice can strengthen the Honmoon,” Rumi said, hoping to stay on topic. Jinu was distracting.

“That's what you mean with help,” Jinu concluded. Rumi wanted his voice to aid the Honmoon. It was kind of ironic that a demon was asked for help to strengthen the very barrier that was supposed to keep him out.

“Yes, I will help you and I will try to keep the demons away, but not all will listen.” Jinu promised. His voice could only reach those that wanted to be reached.

“We could try to sing together right now,” Rumi said. She really wanted to see how their voices interacted with the honmoon.

“How is your voice?” Jinu asked with an intense stare. He knew that it was still not back to normal.

“It’s fine.” Rumi waved him off. Jinu looked at her with mild concern before he decided to believe her words. If she overdid he would send her more than one package of tea with honey.

“What do you want to sing?” Jinu asked.

“You choose, I heard that you are a Huntrix fan, so you should have no problem picking a song,” Rumi said as a devious grin unfurled on her lips.

“You watched our Q&A,” Jinu exclaimed with narrowed eyes. His ears had a slight red tint.

“Maybe,” Rumi answered with a grin.

“I had hoped you didn’t see that,” Jinu said with a groan. He covered his face with his hands.

“It was adorable.” Rumi was wearing a cheeky smile.

“Ugh.” Jinu sighed.

“Awww, no need to feel embarrassed. It's cute that a literal demon is our fan.” Rumi teased. He moved his fingers, so he could glare at her between them.

“Let’s get this duet over with,” Jinu said while grumbling underneath his breath.

“Did you manage to decide on a song?” Rumi asked as she balanced along the wall.

“We could try ‘Listen’?” Jinu offered. His answer was hesitant as if he had wanted to offer another song but decided against it.

“Sure,” Rumi said. She spread out her arms and started to belt out the first verse. Her voice was powerful and clear. An elated smile graced her face as she sang. The Honmoon pulsed around her in happiness.

Jinu joined her for the chorus. His voice was beautiful. It was smooth and strong. Their voices mixed together in a perfect harmony. It made her feel as if she was able to fly.

“Listen to our voice

Make your choice

Follow us into the light

Let yourself shine bright.

Listen to our voice, oh oh ohhh

We are going to make it right

Listen now

Better listen now, ohhhh”

The Honmoon around them brightened. Iridescent lights illuminated the night. The more they sang, the more the Honmoon seemed to spread its light. A rainbow of colour spread out, golden sparks danced along the colours. Rumi watched it in awe.

She looked at Jinu. He had his eyes closed as he was singing. Even the high notes posed no obstacle to him. His whole body was moving with the melody. His hands were moving. It was as if he was dancing.

“Block out the shouts

Ignore the doubts, oh oh

Ignore the noises

Just listen to our voices

Better listen now, oh ohhhh”

Rumi allowed herself to get carried away by the music. She was having fun. It felt like she was singing just for the fun of it for the first time in years.

As their voices carried along with the wind, Rumi let herself twirl on the wall. She was moving to the song gracefully and freely. There was nothing choreographed about her movement. Jinu held out his hand as he sang. Rumi took it and he helped her down from the wall before he twirled her around. In between the lyrics, Rumi couldn’t help the laughter that escaped her. They were dancing.

“I am your light in the dark

Igniting the spark

Just listen to me

and you will be free,

Better listen now, oh ohhh”

Just twirling across the path together as the song swelled around them. They were holding hands. Jinu’s eyes were sparkling. The last note echoed in the night.

They were looking directly into each other's eyes and slowly moving closer.

“That was beautiful,” a voice suddenly said. Rumi let go of Jinu’s hands as if they were hot coals as they jumped apart. An older lady had interrupted them. She was clapping and looking at them with a happy expression.

“Do you want a bracelet for your girlfriend?” The lady asked, holding out a bracelet with a knot in the center. It was made of two colour variants, one light violet and one dark purple. Mauve and plum colours. It was a gukwa knot, it meant autumn and eternity.

It felt strangely fitting. Jinu looked at it silently for a moment. He would wait an eternity for Rumi and he would endure an eternity of torment just to see her again. He was bound to her for eternity. In all lives, in all universes he would gladly give her his soul to keep. He would choose her over and over again.

“I am not his girlfriend.” Rumi denied as he shook her head. The lady looked at her with skepticism.

“How much do you want for two, auntie?” Jinu asked as he stepped closer. Rumi noted how he hadn’t denied it at all. She stared at him.

He handed the auntie the money and took two bracelets. He wrapped one of the bracelets around his own wrists. A nostalgic expression overtook his features as he looked at the bracelet.

“Here, for new beginnings and for a bright future,” Jinu said as he pressed the second bracelet into her hand. She automatically tightened her grip on it. He was smiling at her again. He looked sad.

Without thinking, Rumi reached out and gently touched his cheek. He leaned into the contact. His skin felt smooth beneath her fingertips.

“Why do you sometimes look so sad?” Rumi asked. She didn’t like to see the sadness on his face.

“Because some things are lost to time now and some might never happen.” A heartbreaking smile graced his lips.

“You might regain them,” Rumi answered. Her thumb lightly brushed back and forth on his cheek. She wasn’t even aware that she was doing it, nor was she aware that a shiver ran down Jinu’s spine at the contact.

“Some things that are lost have a way of returning to us, maybe not in the same shape as before but not everything that is lost will remain lost,” Rumi said in an effort to cheer him up. He rubbed his cheek against her hand. He reminded her of an overgrown affectionate cat at that moment.

“I already gained something.” Jinu exhaled softly. His eyes were filled with affection as they looked at her. A shiver ran down her spine.

“Young people these days.” The voice of the auntie pulled them back to reality. They had both forgotten that she was still there. Rumi hastily dropped her hand.

“Always lost in their own world, hopeless youth,” she muttered as she walked away.

“Hopeless.” Jinu snickered. Rumi lightly elbowed him.

“I might have been hopeless in the past but I have hope right here,” Jinu said as he lightly jostled Rumi.

“Stop it with the flirting.” Rumi hissed. Her heart couldn’t take much more; this man was too smooth for his own good.

“Aww, I thought you enjoyed it.” Jinu whined but he still noticed the reddish hue on Rumi’s cheeks.

“I do not.” Rumi hissed. Jinu teasingly tugged at her braid, Rumi tried to kick him in retaliation. With a chuckle, he avoided her kick only to stumble over an uneven stone in the path. He fell right into the bush next to the path. At least it was not a rose bush.

Rumi couldn’t help the laughter that escaped her as Jinu looked at her wide-eyed. He was laying in the bush like a marionette with its strings cut. In the Q&A the Saja Boys had done, fans had asked who the clumsiest member was, the boys had answered Jinu without hesitation and Rumi was unable to deny that claim. Her stomach hurt from laughing so much.

“Haha, I hope you have laughed enough at my expense, help me up,” Jinu said as he reached out his hand.

“You forgot the magical word,” Rumi sing-songed as she wiped away the tear that had rolled down her cheek from laughing so hard.

“Oh mighty huntress Rumi, please help me up.” Jinu drawled. He wanted to do a mocking bow but being stuck in a bush ruined his mobility.

Still chuckling, Rumi held out her hand and pulled him back to his feet. He dusted himself off.

“You have something in your hair.” Rumi noticed a leaf was stuck in his hair. Jinu ran his fingers through it but the leaf wouldn’t loosen.

“Lean forward,” Rumi commanded. Jinu followed her words without question. Rumi reached out and plucked the leaf from his hair. She let the wind carry it away. She couldn’t resist ruffling through it, destroying the carefully styled look he had. Jinu protested but let her. The strands felt as soft between her fingers as she had imagined.

“Did you find out what you wanted to know when we sang?” Jinu asked after he straightened and her hand fell away.

Rumi had honestly forgotten why they had sung together. She had so much fun that the purpose fell away. She looked around her, the whole Honmoon pulsed in a rainbow of colour. Even though she had never seen it in that colour before, it didn’t alarm her anymore. Something about the rainbow felt right. It seemed stronger than before.

“The Honmoon likes you,” Rumi said those words with wonder.

“Never thought that the barrier that keeps demons away would like a demon.” Jinu snorted.

“You need to sing with me during the Idol Awards,” Rumi exclaimed. The idea had just come to her. Singing with Mira and Zoey, plus singing with Jinu would give the Honmoon enough strength that it needed to keep Gwi-Ma from their world forever.

“You want to do a collab stage?” Jinu asked.

“Maybe we can let the others sing together as well,” Rumi said. A collab between the queens of Kpop and the rising star. Fans would go absolutely nuts.

“Like unit performances,” Jinu added. He seemed to be coming around to the idea.

“You guys are the opening act, after that we could do the unit performances. Huntrix would go after the unit performances.” Rumi was becoming more enthusiastic by the minute.

“Our management will murder us for the changes,” Jinu said with a chuckle.

“Huntrix holds enough sway that we can definitely make a deal with the organisation team of the Idol Awards.” Rumi was gesturing excitedly.

“Mira, Abby and Romance could be one unit, Zoey, Baby and Mystery the other,” Jinu mused out loud. Something in the way he said it made it seem as if he knew more than he let on. She chose to ignore it. Zoey would be over the moon. Her favourite Saja Boy was Mystery.

“This could be fun,” Jinu concluded with a wicked smile.

“You’re in?” Rumi asked with a grin.

“I am all in,” Jinu said as they fist bumped.

They traded more ideas back and worth. Jinu insisted that they would perform a song together that he has written for their unit performance. Rumi tried to get more information out of him but he wouldn’t say more.

“I will text you for our practice dates,” Rumi said, at Jinu’s smirk she amended quickly, “Not date dates.”

“But what if I want a date date?” Jinu asked. He wasn’t joking. The joking tone was gone. He was looking at her with intense eyes. Rumi felt as if her heart had decided to run another marathon. It was beating so loudly.

“Then ask me properly.” Rumi somehow managed to keep her voice steady.

“Rumi, will you go on a date with me tomorrow?” Jinu asked. He seemed so confident but Rumi could see that his hands were trembling.

“Y-yes, I will.” Rumi was proud of herself that she managed to even answer without completely butchering the human language. She could barely hear her own thoughts over the loudness of her heart.

“Great!” Jinu blurted out. He was pink in the face.

“I have to go now!” Rumi blurted out. Her movements had become all mechanical.

“Great, I will text you about tomorrow!” Jinu said. His voice was an octave higher than normal.

“Bye!” Rumi said as she hurried away.

“Eh, b-bye!” Jinu answered. His hand was raised as if he wanted to wave but decided against it at the last minute. He watched as she walked away. He watched until his heart was out of sight.

Chapter Text

It took Rumi a moment to process what actually happened as she hurried home. She nearly stumbled over her own feet. She had a date. Oh god, she had a date. She let out a noise of panic in the middle of the subway train. The other passengers looked at her with wide eyes. She burrowed deeper into her hoodie and hid her face beneath her hat. This was an emergency.

She needed Mira and Zoey. She could not do this without them. Time to fess up to at least some of the secrets she had started to keep. She had finally reached their building and started to run up the stairs. The elevator was too slow for her today. The exercise would do her good. She nearly tripped and fell multiple times.

Her phone vibrated in her hands, Jinu had written her a message. He had written her a subway station plus a time when they would meet. Bongeunsa Temple station was the meeting spot he had sent her. That station was close to the Coex Mall.

This was the first time she ever had a date. She never had the time between being an idol and being a hunter. Not to mention dating as an idol was notoriously difficult. As much as she adored their fans she knew that some would become downright toxic if any of their faves started dating. She was absolutely clueless on how to act and what she could even wear. She crashed into their flat.

“Emergency!” Rumi called loudly. She skidded to a stop in front of the couch on which both Mira and Zoey were lounging on. Or rather, trying to melt into. They immediately straightened.

“Are there demons?!” Mira exclaimed. Her weapon immediately appeared in her hands.

“Not a demonic emergency!” Rumi immediately tried to defuse the situation.

“Oh, did your voice get worse?!” Zoey asked with wide worried eyes.

“No, that's fine as well,” Rumi answered. Her voice had felt better ever since she had met up with Jinu.

“So what is it?” Mira asked as she relaxed back into the cushions. Zoey let out a breath of relief and took a sip of her soda. Rumi took a deep breath.

“You are all sweaty, did you run up the stairs?” Mira asked with an expression of disbelief. Rumi waved her off.

“I have a date,” Rumi blurted out. Zoey spewed out her drink in surprise, almost hitting Mira in the face. Mira was gaping at her.

“You have a what?!” They shouted in unison.

“A date, I have a date! What the hell am I supposed to do?!” Rumi was frazzled.

“Wait, When, Where and Who???” Zoey asked with wide eyes.

“Who?” Mira echoed as she too leaned closer. Rumi froze in her pacing. She avoided eye contact as Mira and Zoey stared her down.

“Jinu.” The name left her in barely a whisper. Her ears were bright red.

“I knew it!” Zoey and Mira said at the same time.

“And just how did he invite you?” Mira asked with a probing look.

“We talked on the phone,” Rumi said with an embarrassed smile. Zoey was swooning.

“And when did you get his phone number?” Mira asked with a smirk. She liked making Rumi squirm a bit.

“The day of the fan sign.” Rumi lied as she looked at her feet. Another lie to add to the endless pile but at least they now knew that she and Jinu were talking.

“I thought you would have gotten his number earlier,” Zoey said.

“Yeah, the two of you were awfully familiar, whispering during the fan signing.” Mira nodded along.

“We hadn’t talked before then.” Rumi lied again. The other two believed her and Rumi felt a small twinge of pain in her chest. Her throat was itching again before she was able to focus on it Zoey spoke.

“When is the date?” Zoey asked. She was nearly jumping up and down in one spot. She looked so excited.

“Tomorrow,” Rumi said.

“Where is he taking you?” Mira asked. She appeared to be nonchalant but Rumi could see in her eyes that she was excited.

“He just wrote me the station we are going to meet at,” Rumi said as she held out her phone for the girls to look at.

“Tiger Boy?” Mira smirked at her.

“Ah, because of his tattoo!” Zoey exclaimed before Rumi could think of a way to explain Jinu having a demonic tiger. Rumi just nodded in agreement.

“Mhmm, either he is taking you to the temple or to Coex mall?” Mira said with a confused tilt of her head.

“Ohhhh Coex has an aquarium! Maybe he is taking her there?” Zoey exclaimed.

“An aquarium date is actually not bad at all for a first date.” Mira nodded with approval.

“At what time is the date, again?” Zoey asked. Rumi held up her phone screen, on it his message was still displayed.

“Half past four, so enough time for the aquarium and some dinner afterwards.” Mira mused out loud.

“Ohhh what are you going to wear?” Zoey asked eagerly.

“That's the emergency, I have no idea what I should wear and how to even behave on a date.” Rumi whined. She felt like a teenager.

“I have just the thing for you!” Zoey explained. She ran to her room as if an army of demons was hot on her heels. She returned within a few moments with a stack of notebooks in her arms.

“The perfect First Date Looks: Rumi Edition?” Mira said as she picked up three of the notebooks.

“Why did you write those?” Rumi was perplexed.

“For an occasion like today. I wanted to be prepared for when you guys needed me.” Zoey grinned at them. Their maknae was too sweet sometimes.

“I also have one like that for Mira and Bobby as well.” Zoey laughed as she showed them a peace sign. Mira and Rumi looked at each other before they burst out into giggles.

“You have notebooks for every occasion don’t you?” Rumi said between chuckles.

“Of course, I think of everything!” Zoey said proudly.

“You even have a notebook full of potential hairstyles for Rumi,” Mira said with a whistle as she held up a bright purple notebook .

“I know that she loves her braid, but I thought she could look awesome in all of these!” Zoey grinned. Mira paged through one of them. Zoey had even sketched or cut out hairstyles from magazines. She even had a notebook with cool nail designs.

“I am not sure that I want something other than my braid,” Rumi said with a small frown.

“You would look lovely in all of these though,” Zoey said as she held up the notebook.

“We can be your stylists!” Zoey said with sparkling eyes. Rumi couldn’t say no.

“Also with your hair not in your standard braid, the less likely it is that you will be recognized.” Mira added reasonably. Rumi looked at the notebook.

“Fine, I will leave my styling in your capable hands,” Rumi said with a small grin.

“You will not regret it,” Mira said as she rubbed her hands together. Both Mira and Zoey were looking at her as if she was some snack. Rumi took a step back in alarm.

oOo

Jinu took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He had just sent the text to Rumi, telling her their meeting location. He had planned this date days ago. Honestly, he had more than a few different date ideas prepared in advance since the moment he had settled into the fact that he had time travelled.

They were going to visit the aquarium, and afterwards, Jinu was going to take her on a picnic up at the Han river. During this season it was already colder in the evening, so he was thinking about bringing blankets and some emergency hand warmers. He had even already picked out the park they would eat at. Derpy would be the one to fly them there. A night flight would be gorgeous.

He felt jittery. The other Saja Boys were eying him warily as if they were expecting some kind of explosion. They had thankfully left him alone.

Jinu was now standing in the kitchen going through the options of what he could attempt to make. The only thing he was confident in was kimbap, but he needed to make more than that for a picnic. He couldn’t just offer Rumi kimbap.

He had gone on a googling spree. Google was a very neat invention of the current century, but sometimes it was also very inaccurate. Some things he had seen with his own eyes. He had thought about giving his insight but he could hardly go up to some historian and go, ‘no, that is wrong, I have seen it.’ Nobody would believe that he was telling the truth.

“What are you sighing for?” Baby asked. He had finally put his phone down. He had discovered mobile games and if Jinu didn’t keep an eye on it would become an addict.

“I need to go grocery shopping,” Jinu said. He had everything here for kimbap and for gamjajeon but he was missing ingredients for mandu and bulgogi. Their kimchi was also running low.

“Why don’t you ask Jelly to help you?” Baby said as he leaned against the kitchen counter. Jelly was the only one Jinu could trust to actually complete the task. Jinu called Jelly over and handed him a grocery list, he nodded eagerly before nearly flying out of the door. Only to reappear a moment later because he had forgotten his wallet.

“Seriously, how did he even survive in the demon realm,” Baby muttered under his breath as he watched him go.

Jinu was busy pulling everything out of the fridge to start cooking. He put on an apron. It was a tiger apron fans had gifted him. He turned on some music. It was Huntrix's newest album.

“Why are you cooking up a storm?” Baby asked as he pulled a bag of spicy chips from one of the cupboards.

“Got a date,” Jinu said absentmindedly, as he was washing the vegetables in the sink. Baby froze in the middle of opening up the bag of chips.

“Ah,” he just said. Jinu was completely focused on the task at hand and didn’t notice that Baby was slowly backing out of the kitchen. As soon as he left the room, he scrambled towards the living room.

“Emergency!” He said, carefully not to be too loud. He didn’t want Jinu to hear. The other three members of the Saja Boys froze in the middle of a yutnori game. The stick rolled off the living room table.

“Jinu has a date with the hunter.” Baby hissed.

“Like a date date?” Romance asked with wide eyes.

“He is cooking food for the huntress in the kitchen!” Baby said as he gestured wildly.

“He has an actual date!” Abby exclaimed. He was sitting there in just his sweatpants. He had just finished his workout routine when he was dragged into the game of yutnori.

“Looks like he is planning a picnic,” Baby said as he listed all the stuff that Jinu was apparently planning to cook.

“Does he have any idea how to even behave on a date?” Romance questioned.

“God, the huntress is going to murder him.” Abby bemoaned their leader’s doomed fate.

“How did he even manage to get her to agree to a date?!” He continued.

“He needs help,” Romance proclaimed.

“I doubt your dramas are a good source of information,” Baby commented. Romance pouted

“Will they need a chaperon?” Mystery wondered out loud.

“God, I keep forgetting that you are nearly as old as Jinu,” Romance complained.

“We could do some research?” Abby offered.

The four of them crowded around the laptop in their flat and started to google date tips. They were even making a list. Jelly returned from his grocery run and was promptly banished from the kitchen. Usually, he was the only other one besides Baby that was allowed in there. Jelly joined them in the living room he was dragged in to help find more first date tips.

Thanks to Jelly, they even managed to create a powerpoint presentation. Jelly had become enamoured with the idea of power points after Ha-yun had shown him how to do it. They added cute heart graphics and even statistics.

As soon as Jinu was done with cooking, Mystery and Abby accosted him. They grabbed him left and right, and under protests sat him down onto the couch. Abby sat down on his left and slung his arm over Jinu's shoulder and Mystery sat down on the right. Baby laid himself across his lap, so that he was unable to escape.

Jelly had actually run to their agency and burrowed a beamer.

The words First Date Guide was shown on the white wall of their living room. The whole thing was surrounded by heart graphics. Jinu stared at it blankly. He had a bad feeling.

Romance cleared his throat before he began to speak: “First Date Guide, or how to not be killed by a huntress!”

Jinu let his head fall into his hands and barely managed to suppress a noise of despair.

The power point included simple things, such as ‘make sure you smell good’ to ‘don’t speak
with a full mouth.’ There were also some demon-specific things like ‘just because you're embarrassed doesn’t mean you can teleport away.’ No escaping the date.

In total, the powerpoint took nearly an hour Jinu had made several escape attempts that were all thwarted by the others. This was worse than anything he had thought his members could do. He wanted the ground to swallow him up whole. At least he no longer felt nervous for tomorrow, the only thing he was feeling was pure mortification.

Chapter Text

Rumi was standing in front of the northern exit of Bongeunsa Temple. She was fiddling with the cuffs of her baggy black leather jacket. Underneath she was wearing a soft cashmere sweater in dark purple. The purple was similar to the colour of Jinu’s patterns. She had nearly snatched it out of Mira's hands once she had held it up as an option. Black hotpants hugged her figure in all the right ways according to Mira. She was wearing black leather boots. A small huntrix charm was hanging from shoelaces. Around her neck, she had a choker on with a small silver star. A black bucket hat and a black mask completed the outfit.

Mira and Zoey had insisted on styling her hair differently. It fell down her back in a cascade of violet waves. She was wearing matching silver earrings and makeup that looked beautiful but not too fancy. Zoey had done a brilliant job.

“Rumi?” A voice asked hesitantly. She turned around and Jinu was standing there. He was wearing black pants and a light purple shirt. Slung over his arm was a black leather jacket. He was wearing a black bucket hat like her. His eyes were wide with awe.

“You look gorgeous,” he blurted out. Rumi felt a pleased blush crawl up her cheeks.

“You don’t look half bad yourself.” She was impressed with herself that she had managed to utter those words so seemingly effortlessly.

They fell into step beside each other, every so often they would sneak glances at each other before hurriedly looking away again. Rumi had put her mask away into the handbag she was wearing.

Unnoticed by them, four guys were following them. The Saja Boys made sure to keep a safe distance from them. They were dressed completely in black, even their sunglasses and hats were black.

“I still think the trenchcoats would have been better,” Romance muttered with a pout.

“No one wears trenchcoats anymore when following people,” Abby said with a roll of his eyes. Except for Romance, they had all said no to the trenchcoats.

“I will handle the Aquarium tickets,” Mystery said as he proudly held out his wallet.

“No, I will do it,” Baby hissed. Mystery accepted the decision with a small pout. He had wanted to use his shiny new bank card for something other than online purchases for the first time.

“You have the social grace of a stork on stilts,” Baby said with a sigh.

They entered Coex Mall, it became easier to follow them with the people mingling about. The Saja Boys did not notice that Rumi and Jinu got another two people following them once they were inside the mall. Jinu led Rumi towards the aquarium. He paid for their tickets.

“How do you even have a bank account? Better yet, how do you have an ID?” Rumi asked after Jinu had returned to her side.

“Demonic magic,” Jinu said with a wiggle of his fingers. Some red sparks hovered around his fingertips before disappearing.

“Pretty damn useful,” Rumi muttered.

“You could probably learn some of it,” Jinu said with a grin and a shrug of his shoulders.

“I don’t think that is a food idea,” Rumi said under her breath. Jinu smiled at her softly.

“Then don’t, but it might be useful one day,” Jinu said. The first section was made up of fish native to Korea. As they talked, they looked at the different exhibitions

Fake Traditional Korean homes decorated the place, as large ponds filled with native fish were scattered in the room. Most of the fish were freshwater fish. Fish often found in ponds shimmered beneath the light. They walked through this section pretty quickly since most of the fish were the ones Jinu actually knew about.

They were now in the amazonian section. A fake rainforest was created around the tanks, trying to mimic the fish's natural environment.

“Electric eels,” Jinu read out the name of the fish whose tank he was staring at.

“Do not put your fingers in there,” Rumi warned.

“I would never do something like that.” Jinu protested.

“However, we are lucky that none of my members are here, by the end I would probably have to fish Abby out of the shark tank because he tried to have a wrestling match with a shark.” Jinu lamented. Rumi couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips at the mental image.

“Mystery would probably try to eat the turtles,” Jinu said with a groan. Rumi giggled and for him there was no sound more beautiful.

“Zoey would kill him, she loves turtles,” Rumi said with a grin. Jinu filed the information away for later. It might be useful information for a certain member of his group.

Unbeknownst to Jinu, the members he was telling Rumi about were in fact also in the aquarium keeping a safe distance but trailing behind Jinu and Rumi. They had been worried that Jinu would fuck it up. Currently, they were pretending that they were very interested in the fish in the tank. Though honestly none of them had been in an Aquarium before so they did in fact find it all very interesting and fun.

On the other side of the pathway, two equally suspiciously dressed women were pretending to look at the fish as well. Mira and Zoey had decided to follow Rumi, just like the Saja Boys. They were going to make sure that the date went well.

Both groups kept their distance, so that they wouldn’t get noticed. It also meant that they were far enough away that they couldn’t overhear their conversations.

“You have never been to an aquarium before, have you?” Rumi asked with a smile. Jinu was in awe of all the animals. It was cute.

“They did not have these four hundred years ago,” Jinu said.

“And the demon realm is also sparse with aquariums,” Rumi said with a grin.

“Oh, most of the water is toxic, we just have the giant demon kraken,” Jinu said with a wave of his hand.

“Giant demon kraken?” Rumi asked, aghast.

“Yeah, but he is lazy and doesn’t move from his spot,” Jinu answered with a shrug.

They entered a new section of the aquarium. Large fish swam past them as they entered the area. Even the ceiling housed an aquarium. The whole room was flooded with gently moving blue light. Jinu caught sight of the platform in the center of the room.

“Oh, let's try that out,” he said as he lightly grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards the raised platform.

“You are acting like an overeager puppy,” Rumi said around a chuckle.

“That just means you find me cute.” Jinu grinned at her before he pulled her down with him to lay on the platform.

“Flirt,” Rumi said with a huff of amusement.

“Your flirt.” His eyes seemed to glow with warmth. She lightly pushed his shoulder in retaliation. Above the platform they were laying on, a large glass bullseye was attached to the ceiling. Light shimmered through the water as the fish swam above them.

“Beautiful,” Rumi whispered. The movement of the fish was mesmerizing. Jinu was no longer focused on the fish but on her.

“Not as beautiful as you.” Jinu’s voice was heavy with sincerity.

“Stop that.” Rumi hissed as she sat up. Her whole face was red.

“Why? It’s nothing but the truth.” Jinu insisted. Rumi let out a groan and flopped back down beside him. She covered her face with both her hands.

“My heart cannot take it,” she muttered from beneath her hands.

“Cute,” Jinu sing-songed. Rumi let out a noise of protest. She heard Jinu move but didn’t register what was happening until two hands gently wrapped around her wrists. He slowly pulled her hands aside revealing her blushing face. He was leaning over her.

“Really cute,” he whispered. She was looking straight into his eyes. The warm brown eyes were looking at her with far too much affection. It felt as if she could drown in them.

“Mum, what are those two doing?” A child’s voice interrupted them. Rumi and Jinu nearly jumped apart. They slowly moved out of each other’s space, like naughty children pretending that they didn’t have their hand in the cookie jar a moment ago. Jinu helped Rumi back onto her feet. Rumi bowed towards the family in apology before she grabbed Jinu to hurry towards the next exhibition.

They didn’t notice the string of curses the six that trailed them let out. Unbeknownst to the two groups, they both swore to keep children away from Jinu and Rumi before they interrupted another moment.

“It feels like a completely different world,” Jinu said as he looked into one of the tanks. The glow of the light and the water's blue reflections gave his face an otherworldly feeling. Rumi watched the light dance across his face. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

“It’s so peaceful,” Jinu continued softly, his hand was resting on the glass.

“The ocean has its dangers but you are right, this is calming,” Rumi said as she nudged his shoulder lightly.

“Also, you wouldn’t call it peaceful if you had watched Titanic or any other ship wreck movie,” Rumi added with a thoughtful hum.

“What is the Titanic?” Jinu asked with a confused tilt of his head. Rumi blinked at him for a moment. She had forgotten that he was an old demon that only just returned to the human realm.

“Have you seen any movies since you came to the human realm?” Rumi asked.

“I don’t think so, but I have been forced to watch a few dramas,” Jinu mused out loud.

“We are so doing movie night,” Rumi said with a decisive nod.

“How are you with the horror genre?” Rumi asked with a wicked smirk.

“I have no idea,” Jinu said with a shrug. Her smirk was frightening him a bit but it was also very hot.

“We are definitely going to watch at least one horror movie.” Rumi grinned.

“Should I be frightened?” Jinu asked.

“Maybe,” Rumi said with a laugh.

“Me and the girls do movie nights at least once a month, more often than not every two weeks,” Rumi said with a grin.

“And you all like horror?” Jinu asked carefully.

“Zoey’s favourite genre is horror,” Rumi explained. You could watch the most horrific movies and Zoey would hardly flinch. Rumi leaned closer towards Jinu.

“Unlike her image, Mira is the one that is terrified of horror movies,” Rumi confessed in a conspiratorial whisper towards him. Mira was seemingly afraid of nothing in real life but as soon as one forced her to watch a horror movie she would prefer to hide beneath at least one blanket. One of their six stalkers sneezed.

“And how about you? Can you handle horror well?” Jinu asked.

“As long as it's not too gory, I am fine with it,” Rumi said with a smirk.

“So, if we were to go into a haunted house, you would not adorably cling to me, got it.” Jinu nodded.

“Even if I was scared I wouldn’t cling to you,” Rumi said as she stuck her tongue out.

“But what if I am scared and need to cling to you?” Jinu asked with a pout.

“Fine, you could hide behind me,” Rumi said with a roll of her eyes.

“So, it's a deal. Our next date will be in an amusement park,” Jinu said as he grinned at her. He looked like the cat that caught the canary. Unrepentant and self-satisfied.

“Who said anything about a second date?” Rumi asked with a teasing smirk.

“We are absolutely going on a second date,” Jinu said with a grin. Rumi just watched him with an amused expression. She wasn’t denying the second date allegations further.

They trailed through the aquarium, stopping in front of different tanks. Coral reefs with their colourful inhabitants greeted them. A rainbow of colour hidden beneath the surface. Rumi couldn’t help the smile that overtook her features as she watched Jinu look at all the different fish and ocean inhabitants. His eyes were sparkling. It was ridiculously cute. It was unfair. Jinu as a whole was simply unfair. How could a fully grown man or rather Demon be this adorkable but also so hot.

At that moment, he turned around and sent her a blinding grin. It showed off some of his sharp canines. Rumi felt her heart stutter for a moment. He was bad for her health. He pointed towards some of the fish in one of the tanks. On his wrist, the bracelet hung. The same bracelet that she was wearing on her wrist.

Jinu pointed out fish that reminded him of his members, causing Rumi to laugh. The blue glow of the tanks illuminated their path.

They entered the section of the aquarium that was called Ocean Kingdom. Giant tanks greeted them. Sharks glided through the water. Their sleek bodies were brimming with power.

“If I didn’t have Derpy I would have totally looked for a demonic shark,” Jinu said as he watched the sharks drift past them.

“First of all, there are demonic sharks? Secondly, who is Derpy?” Rumi asked. They were standing so close together that their shoulders were brushing.

“I haven’t personally seen demonic sharks, but there must be some. Also Derpy is the tiger, you have met him.” Jinu looked at her with confusion.

“You named the tiger ‘Derpy’!” Rumi looked at him with clear disbelief.

“What? It fits perfectly!” Jinu protested.

“Please tell me that the magpie at least has a normal name.” Rumi side-eyed him skeptically.

“I just call it Bird because it refused all the names I offered it,” Jinu admitted with a huff.

“No wonder, your naming sense is atrocious,” Rumi said with a roll of her eyes.

“Stop being mean to me.” Jinu whined. Rumi flicked his nose in response causing him to go cross-eyed. Rumi chuckled.

They kept on walking, stopping at every tank to read the description and look at the fish. The aquarium had a lot of sharks. Even ray sharks that Jinu found utterly fascinating. Soon, they reached the Deep Blue sea tunnel.

Jinu looked up as a Ray swam above him. The blue glow made him shine. Rumi reacted instinctively, she pulled out her mobile and took a picture of him beneath the blue light.

“Are you secretly taking pictures of me?” Jinu asked with a grin.

“The lighting is too good to miss the chance,” Rumi answered, trying to hide how flustered she suddenly was.

“Oh, so the lightning is good and not my face, I am heartbroken.” Jinu teased with a laugh.

“Eh, your face is okay,” Rumi answered back.

“Ouch, don’t let my fans hear that.” Jinu pretended that he was struck by an arrow. Rumi laughed at his antics.

“Lets make a bet, whoever takes the better picture of the other wins. and the loser has to buy a souvenir of choice in the gift shop,” Jinu proposed with a grin.

“Within a budget of 60,000 Won,” Jinu added quickly.

“Aw, are you scared that I will ask for something very expensive?” Rumi asked with a wicked grin.

“You haven’t won yet.” Jinu taunted.

“You are on,” Rumi said.

For some reason, both their competitive spirits got ignited. The six that were secretly following them watched as the ones supposed to be on a romantic date started doing a photoshoot in the middle of the Sea Tunnel.

“Does that count as romantic?” Baby asked in a whisper.

“I don’t think so,” Romance answered skeptically.

“Maybe it is for them?” Abby asked, unsure. Even though they didn’t quite understand they still made sure that tunnel remained mostly empty. They didn’t want anyone to disturb the two lovebirds.

Rumi and Jinu were putting in the work. Posing and fiddling with the settings of their phone cameras. Correcting each other, when the pose didn’t hit the way it was supposed to.

“We should never let those two do a dance battle,” Abby whispered. They would take it too seriously. It seemed as if both of them were far too competitive. The other three nodded in agreement.

Jinu was taking a picture of Rumi as she was leaning against the railing looking up to the fish that were swimming above her head. Jinu frowned, something was a bit off.

“Can you arch your back a bit more?” Jinu asked. Rumi followed his instructions to a T. She had some experience with photo shootings after all.

“Tilt your head slightly towards me,” Jinu said. Rumi’s hair fell over her shoulders like a cascading waterfall. It shimmered beneath the blue glow of the sea tunnel. Jinu looked at the finished image with satisfaction. He would definitely use it as her profile picture.

He stepped closer. Rumi thought he was about to correct her pose so she let him. He reached out and gently touched her hair.

“You should let your hair down more often,” Jinu said with a soft smile as he ran her fingers through her waves. He raised a bundle of strands and gently kissed them.

Rumi let out a noise that resembled a broken tea kettle. Her face was bright red. She turned her body slightly and let her head fall forward. It now rested on Jinu’s right shoulder. She just needed a moment to hide.

Jinu froze. It felt like he was experiencing a heart attack. He let the hair strands glide from his fingers as he raised his hand. He didn’t know if he was allowed to touch her. He was unsure if he should hug her. All that he was sure of was that Rumi smelled good and that her weight leaning against him just felt right. He slowly lowered his hand until it rested lightly against her lower back, and decided to just relax into the moment. His cheeks were red and he was wearing a dopey grin.

He smelled good was the first clear thought Rumi was able to have as she leaned against him. His scent was soothing with an undercurrent of wildness. A touch of smoke seemed to linger on him. Maybe it was because he was a demon that the scent of fire clung to him. The whirlwind in her mind was slowly calming down. Funny, how he was both the cause of her embarrassed panic but also the one that helped her calm down again. Her heart was beating so loudly she feared that he could hear it. He was warm. He felt like a small furnace. Being in his arms felt good and it felt right.

Maybe it shouldn’t feel that way. He was a demon and yet no one had ever fit with her like this. It felt perfect in a way that she had never felt before. It felt effortless. She didn’t have to pretend. Here in his arms she could just be. His hands were resting on her lower back. She could feel the touch through the layers of her clothes. It felt like a brand.

In his arms she didn’t feel the need to be strong. She didn’t feel the urge to hide. She nuzzled into the side of his neck. She wanted to burrow deeper. She wanted to live in right here in this moment. It felt as if she was drunk, as if she was drunk by his touch, his presence and his warmth. She was like a moth drawn to the light.

Jinu gulped as he felt her nuzzle against his neck. He nervously swallowed. She was so close to him. His hands pressed into her back just a bit harder in reaction to her hot breath hitting his neck. She was driving him crazy. He gently rested his head against hers. He wanted to never let her go.

For a while they just held each other. They were savouring the moment. Two hearts beating as one.

“Feeling better?” Jinu asked after a moment. Rumi was still resting her head on his shoulder. He could feel her breath. He could feel her shake her head against his neck. Jinu slowly moved his hand until it came into contact with her side. He rested his hand on her right hip.

A shiver ran down Rumi’s spine. Even through her clothes, she was able to feel the heat of his palm. It was worse than when they had rested on his lower back. The peace she had felt in his arms was slowly dissipating as she realised just how close they were.
She had never before been this close to someone she found this attractive. Her heart felt as if it was going to burst. Her face was probably the colour of a ripe strawberry. She took a deep breath and slowly stepped back. Jinu let his hand drop. His fingertips grazed along her side nearly causing another shiver to run down her spine.

“I’m good,” Rumi said as she adjusted her hat.

“You are flushed,” Jinu said with a concerned frown. He reached out and gently touched her cheek.

“I don’t have a fever, that is all your fault.” Rumi hissed with a pout. She whirled around and stalked away.

“Good to know,” Jinu said around a grin as he hurried to follow her. Butterflies were dancing in his stomach.

“We still need to choose a winner for our bet,” Jinu said as he fell into step beside her.

“Each of us is allowed to submit two pictures.” Rumi bargained. The flush was slowly leaving her cheeks now that she could focus on something else.

A startled squeak resounded but Jinu and Rumi dismissed and ignored it. Zoey hadn’t been able to help herself. She just had to let out noises of excitement. Mira had quickly put her hand over her mouth. The sight of the hug had delighted Zoey. She was shaking Mira’s arm vigorously, trying to somewhat contain her excitement. Mira let her, she herself was excited for Rumi but kept it better contained. She let Zoey shake her for a bit. As she looked around, she noted four suspiciously dressed people.

“Aren’t those the Saja Boys?” Mira asked Zoey in a whisper.

Zoey followed her gaze and sure enough the four men that were trying to be inconspicuous were indeed the Saja Boys. Zoey raised her hand and waved towards them. The four scrambled as if someone had thrown candy into an ant colony. Mira barely suppressed her snort. Mystery was the only one that waved back. With a sigh, Mira let herself be dragged over towards the boys.

The four Saja Boys looked utterly intimidated by them. Zoey found it cute that their juniors were that nervous. It took a moment for them to thaw and then they were talking to them almost normally as they kept an eye on Jinu and Rumi. Zoey sent the occasional glances at Mystery, letting her giggles escape sometimes.

Rumi and Jinu remained oblivious to them. As they walked along the tanks their discussion regarding the winner was getting more and more heated. They took the pictures apart with words. Editing was allowed to a minimal degree. In the end, they couldn’t settle on it. So they were forced to send the pictures to their group members to get their votes. Rumi swore that she heard Zoey's ringtone but it was only for a moment. She dismissed it as an auditory hallucination. With six more votes, Jinu was crowned as the winner. His shot of Rumi leaning against the side of the tunnel as a sand tiger shark swam up from behind her was the clear winner much to Rumi's annoyance. He held his hand up in a victory sign with a smug grin. She kicked his shin in retaliation.

“My poor shins, stop abusing them.” Jinu bemoaned.

“Then stop being a little shit,” Rumi retorted with a smirk.

“Never.” Jinu promised solemnly.

“Then you gotta live with blue shins,” Rumi answered with a shrug.

“For life?” Jinu cheekily asked. This time he avoided her kick.

The last section they were now entering was the Garden of Jellyfish. They were floating along the currents. In the middle of the room, a large pillar stood. Lion mane jelly fish floated in the pillar, their long tentacles gently swayed in the water like silk.

They stopped in front of a tank where laced jellyfish gently floated past the glass. Their slow movements were strangely hypnotizing.

“Watching them is weirdly calming,” Jinu commented as he watched the air bubbles rise to the surface.

“Sometimes I wish I could just float along the currents,” Rumi admitted as she watched them.

“I understand that feeling,” Jinu agreed.

“Not having so many expectations sounds nice,” Rumi said with a wistful smile.

“Rumi,” Jinu whispered her name gently.

“Sometimes I feel so far from the ‘perfect’ that they want me to be,” Rumi admitted. Talking to Jinu was so easy. There was no judgment there, only simple acceptance.

“You don’t have to be perfect, you are perfect to me just as you are.” Jinu promised solemnly. He had grabbed her hands and was holding them tightly.

“Thank you, but I sometimes still feel like broken shards that are trying to fit together,” Rumi admitted. She was made up of shards, some of them were demonic, some were her hunter side, some were her idol persona and some pieces were her fears and hopes. She was a mess of scattered pieces that were desperately trying to fit together.

“Have you ever heard of Kintsugi?” Jinu asked after a moment.

“They fill the broken cracks with gold and lacquer, they create beautiful pieces out of broken shards,” Jinu said as he smiled at her.

“As far as I am concerned, you’re just as beautiful with the cracks showing.” Jinu promised. Rumi didn’t know why but she suddenly felt like crying.

Jinu stepped closer into her space. He slowly lowered his head giving her plenty of time to move away if she wanted to. His forehead came to rest on hers. They were standing so close.

“Your cracks shine with an iridescent golden light,” Jinu said solemnly as Rumi got lost in his eyes.

“You don’t have to hide anything from me.” Jinu reached out and gently wiped the tears away from the corner of her eyes.

“Sorry,” Rumi whispered. She was afraid to break the moment they had.

“No need for sorry,” Jinu said with a chuckle.

“No more hiding, at least not when you are with me,” Jinu said as he gently cupped her check. She leaned into the touch.

“You can tell me everything, from the fear of your heritage to the simple things, like tripping over your own feet,” Jinu said with a grin.

“I am not the one that is always in danger of tripping,” Rumi said with a playful grin. Her heart felt warm and so full.

“Are you calling me clumsy?” Jinu asked with narrowed eyes.

“If the shoe fits,” she said with a grin.

“Minx,” Jinu called her. Before he could chicken out he moved. He placed a quick kiss on her forehead before taking a hasty step back. He held out his hand for her.

Rumi gaped at him for a moment. It felt like her cheeks were stained a permanent red. She took his hand and their fingers slotted together as if they were made for each other. She noted that Jinu’s ears were bright red.

They walked through the rest of the exhibition hand-in-hand. The jellyfish seemed to glow around them and both Jinu and Rumi felt a bit like they were floating.

The last animal they saw before they left the aquarium were the penguins. Jinu was delighted. He found them utterly adorable. Rumi watched with amusement as he took a ton of pictures of the birds. Far more pictures than he had taken of her. She was almost jealous, but only almost.

They entered the gift shop and Rumi sighed as Jinu looked around with delight. With great joy, he held out a hoodie for her to inspect. It was a penguin hoodie. The pattern of a penguin's coat was on the hoodie. The hood had a beak made out of yellow fabric. Two yellow feet made out of the same fabric were hanging at the bottom edge.

“They also have a shark variant,” Jinu exclaimed with delight. The edge of the hood of that one had teeth made of white fabric. It was a light blue and a small shark was embroidered over the chest area.

“They look ridiculous,” Rumi said with a snort.

“Which is why we are getting them!” Jinu exclaimed with a broad grin.

“I am only going to pay for one of them. The bet clearly said one thing.” Rumi held her hand up in protest. Jinu looked at her with a pout and wide eyes. She remained unmoved.

With a sigh, Jinu decided to pay for the shark hoodie himself. They made their way over to the register and paid for both hoodies.

“The shark one is for you,” Jinu said as he held out the bag to emphasize his words. Rumi tried to protest but Jinu pretended to be deaf.

They lingered a moment longer in the gift shop. As if they didn’t want to leave the aquarium that had made them feel as if they were in their own world. Jinu took one last glance around the shop before they would leave when something caught his eye.

“Rumi, am I hallucinating, or are you also seeing those six suspicious people,” he whispered into her ear. Rumi looked in the same direction he had. She let out a curse. She instantly recognized Mira and Zoey.

“They must have followed us,” Rumi said with a small curse.

“Noisy, my members are far too noisy,” Jinu said with a sigh and a shake of his head.

“They must have seen everything.” Rumi covered her face with her hands. An embarrassed groan left her lips.

“They will keep trying to follow us,” Jinu grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Ugh.” Rumi let her hands drop. Jinu gently entwined their fingers again.

“You know what? Let’s run!” Jinu said with a laugh as he dragged her along. Rumi nodded in agreement. They ran out of the aquarium as quickly as possible, winding through the other visitors. They could hear the other Saja Boys curse.

Hand in hand they ran, laughter leaving their lips as the dashed through the mall. They weaved through the other visitors. Some shouted at them that they shouldn’t run. Apologies left their lips between the laughter.

Rumi could hear Mira in the distance so she quickened her pace. They barely managed to avoid colliding with a pillar. Jinu almost tripped over his feet. Their hands remained interlocked as they ran past the shops in the mall until they were outside.

With hurried steps they crossed the road. Jinu quickly led her to the grounds of Bongeunsa Temple. It was getting late and not many people lingered there anymore. They hid behind one of the ancient buildings, giggling in delight as their six stalkers stood in front of the mall exit with no clue where they had disappeared off to.

“I think we lost them,” Rumi said as she glanced around the corner of the building.

“Thank the heavens,” Jinu said. They shared a conspiratorial grin. A low growl rose in the air. Derpy the tiger had appeared from somewhere. It was butting its big head into Jinu's side, who scratched the tiger beneath the chin with delight.

“Hello, Derpy,” Rumi said as she scratched right below the right ear. The tiger chuffed in greeting.

Jinu swung himself on the back of the large cat. He held out his hand to her.

“We still got the second part of the date,” Jinu said with a grin.

“Take my hand.” Before he even finished talking Rumi’s hand slotted into his and she let herself be pulled onto the tiger’s back.

Chapter Text

They were flying through the air. They were actually flying. Rumi was sitting in front of Jinu as the tiger walked through the sky. Beneath its paws a blue glow kept him afloat.

Rumi looked delighted at the sparkling skyline in the night. The city glowed in the dark like a thousand stars had been bound to earth. She was sitting in front of Jinu. His arms were wrapped around her middle. She usually would have felt nervous but at the sights she was seeing all hints of nervousness had been blown away like smoke in the wind. They had a gorgeous view from the penthouse but soaring through the sky was somehow completely different. It felt special.

She stretched out her arms. It almost felt as if she could touch the clouds. She was so enraptured by her surroundings that she completely missed the way Jinu looked at her. He had the softest expression on his face, like she was his sky and stars.

Derpy took them through the sky towards the Han River. The flight felt endless as if time stood still but it also felt as if it passed in the blink of an eye. Soon Derpy landed near Yeouido Hangang Park.

The demonic magpie landed on Jinu’s arm.

“He secured us a spot,” Jinu said with a grin. He took Rumi through the rows of cherry trees. Someone had hung fairy lights everywhere. It was part of an art installation. Same as the glowing blue flowers that were scattered across the lawn. It made the whole place look as if it was straight out of a fairytale.

They walked past other couples. People were mingling about but it was not too full. Somewhere in the distance, faint string music could be heard. Someone was busking near the stairs. Jinu led her towards a patch beneath a tree where a blue blanket was laid out. A basket sat there, the bird was sitting on the handles of the basket looking proud of itself.

“You did a great job,” Jinu said with a grin. He offered the bird a nut and some pets as thanks.

“You can join Derpy at home, I will call you if I need you,” Jinu said. With one last chirp, the bird flew off into the night.

He helped Rumi lower herself onto the blanket before he sat down beside her. The first thing he offered Rumi was a fluffy blanket that she gratefully took and laid over her legs. He pulled out tupperware from the basket and laid it out on the blanket.

“Some of these I made for the first time, so don’t judge me too harshly,” Jinu said as he opened the containers. He ran a hand through his hair and this time Rumi noticed that he had bandaids on his fingers.

“You made it yourself?” Rumi asked. She felt a bit touched that he went out of his way to cook their dinner. He could have simply booked a seat at a restaurant table but instead he cooked himself.

“Everything except the kimchi,” Jinu admitted.

“It’s going to be wonderful,” Rumi said with a grin. She took her chopsticks and started eating. Jinu poured her some soju before he started to eat as well.

“I didn’t expect a demon to cook,” Rumi said as she happily ate her kimbap.

“We don’t feel hunger when we are in the demon world but if we remain on the surface for a longer while we develop hunger,” Jinu explained. Cooking had been nothing but trial and error in his last life. They had mostly lived on take out. This time he had actually tried to cook.

“Can your other members cook?” Rumi asked as she took a sip of her drink.

“No, they can’t. Abby can make protein shakes and that's it. Romance has a complete kitchen ban,” Jinu said with a sigh.

“You really are like a single father or mother,” Rumi said as she chuckled.

“Ugh, I am going to have to scold them for stalking us,” Jinu said with a sigh.

“I will have to do the same,” Rumi admitted with a roll of her eyes.

“Can your members at least cook?” Jinu asked.

“Zoey can cook just fine, Mira never learned. They always had cooks,” Rumi mused out loud.

“What about you?” Jinu asked as he gestured with his chopstick.

“I can cook but I am a better baker,” Rumi admitted with a shrug.

“Oh, bring some the next time we see each other.” Jinu implored with a smile.

“Why should I?” Rumi took another piece of kimbap.

“Pretty please.” Jinu was leaning closer, his eyes wide and pleading and Rumi folded like a house of cards in the wind.

“Fineeee.” She rolled her eyes. Jinu let out a whoop of triumph.

“I didn’t manage to bake anything, our oven is still broken, so I just prepared some fruit for dessert,” Jinu said with a wave of his chopsticks.

“Why is your oven still broken?” Rumi asked with a tilt of his head.

“Abby, he tried to fix the oven light that broke on its own but instead he managed to break the whole oven while trying to repair it,” Jinu admitted as he sighed deeply.

“Your members are definitely more chaotic than mine,” Rumi said. She snickered at the mental image Jinu portrayed.

“I just have double the trouble and I saw the Live, where Mira and Zoey did that egg run challenge.” Jinu protested immediately.

“Oh god, I had forgotten that. Our whole penthouse was full of broken raw eggs.” Rumi shuddered.

“You guys are just as chaotic as we are,” Jinu said triumphantly.

“Wait a moment, that Live was three years ago, you watched that?” Rumi said with narrowed eyes.

“Yes? I watched everything of you,” Jinu admitted easily, like it was not something to be embarrassed about at all. Rumi flushed red and concentrated on eating her food.

Jinu watched as she stuffed her cheeks. She reminded him of a hamster. It was adorable.

“What are you looking at?” Rumi eyed him suspiciously.

“Just admiring a hamster’s beauty,” Jinu said with a mischievous grin.

“Are you calling me a hamster?” Rumi lowered her chopsticks to look at him incredulously.

“You got the cheeks of one,” Jinu laughed as he poked her cheek with his finger. Rumi playfully tried to bite his finger. Jinu quickly pulled it away.

“Careful, I bite,” Rumi said with a grin that looked just a bit bloodthirsty.

“You can bite me whenever you want,” Jinu said with a grin as he tilted his head. He ran his finger down his neck. Rumi had just taken a sip of her drink when he did that. She choked on her drink. Jinu cackled at her reaction.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Rumi asked as she hacked. Her throat burned. Her face also burned bright red.

“Nah, I like you better alive,” Jinu said with a wave of his hand.

“How gracious,” Rumi muttered as she used the napkin to dry up some of what she had spilled.

They devoured most of the food Jinu had prepared. It was good. Jinu pulled out the dessert. He had covered strawberries in white and dark chocolate and made skewers out of them. He handed one to Rumi.

Rumi hummed happily as she devoured the sweet treat. Jinu watched with barely concealed amusement as she ate his food with delight before he started to eat his own.

As she ate her strawberries, she watched Jinu take a bite out of his dessert. He was unfairly good looking, he made even eating strawberries look hot. She finished her first one and Jinu handed her a second one right away.

“How many did you make?” Rumi asked as she started to nibble at the second one.

“Eight for both of us but there were more,” Jinu admitted with a small sigh.

“What happened to the others?” Rumi asked.

“Well, let’s just say they didn’t pass and my members were used as trashcans,” Jinu said with a pleasant grin. Rumi let out a snort.

As they ate their dessert Jinu was telling her about his members’ latest shenanigans during a photoshoot for a magazine they had the other day.

When Jinu told a story his hands would move along as if they were dancing. Each anecdote was underlined by a gesture. It was cute.

He was cute. It was clear for her to see that he adored her and as much as it caused butterflies to dance within her it also gave her a bit of anxiety. Fans told her they loved her so often but never before had the thought of someone liking her giving her such feelings. It was the first time she had truly liked someone. As much as it pained her to admit it, Jinu really was her first true crush. She had never before liked someone this much.

He was unbearably kind but also a pain. A dork and a smooth talker. A demon and yet more human than some. He was made up of contradictions. He was not perfect and he didn’t expect her to be either. When she was with him she felt as if she could just be herself, patterns and all the broken parts. And that scared her but it also made her braver than she had been before.

“Are you even listening to me?” Jinu asked with a pout on his lips.

“Eh, only sometimes,” Rumi said as she ate the last of her skewer.
“You are so mean to me.” Jinu complained playfully before throwing himself onto the blanket. He rolled over until his head was laying in her lap. He looked up to her with a grin.

“Hi.” His voice was soft.

“Hi,” she answered in kind. The heat of him laying in her lap seeped through her clothes. A gentle warmth.

She slowly pulled his hat off and started to gently run her fingers through his hair. He leaned into her touch like an eager cat. His resemblance to Derpy was sometimes glaringly obvious.

She lightly scratched his scalp, causing him to hum in happiness. Rumi smiled as she looked down at him. His eyes were only open a sliver as if he couldn’t bear to look away from her.

“You are beautiful.” The words left his lips in a hush as if it was a secret that only they should know. Red spread across her cheeks. She wondered if it was bad for her if her blood kept concentrating on one spot if she was with him.

“You are very handsome yourself,” she answered and watched in delight as a hint of red spread across his cheeks. It felt good to know that she was not the only one that was affected.

“Your hair looks like a waterfall of silk from down here,” Jinu said as he reached out to gently touch the loose waves.

“Are you turning into a poet?” Rumi asked with a light laugh.

“I am already a hopelessly devoted poet,” Jinu admitted with a flush to his cheek. Rumi felt her heart skip a beat.

“Oh?” was the only word that left her lips for a moment.

“You are something else,” Rumi muttered. Jinu answered her with an unrepentant smile.

His flirting would kill her one day. She used her hair to hide behind for a moment. She stopped when she felt Jinu roll off her lap.

“Come on, lay down beside me,” Jinu said as he patted the spot beside him on the blanket. She laid down beside him.

“In the city, you can hardly see the stars,” Jinu said as he looked towards the sky.

“The city lights make it difficult,” Rumi added.

“Well, then we will have to visit the countryside to do some star gazing,” Jinu answered. He reached out and lightly touched her hand. They interlocked their fingers.

“Maybe next time,” Rumi agreed lightly.

Laying side by side on the blanket they kept talking and laughing. They spent hours just talking. Never once did they let go of each other.

At half past ten at night, they chose to go home because even with the blankets it was becoming cold. Jinu walked her home.

Jinu hugged her tightly when it was time to say goodbye. His hug edged on desperate as if he was afraid that she would disappear should he let go.

“See you soon.” Jinu’s voice was a soft caress.

“See you soon,” Rumi answered. She turned around and just as she was about to step over the threshold she turned around. She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him down. She kissed his cheek before releasing him and hurrying inside.

Jinu was left standing there, feeling utterly dazed.

“I won’t wash my face,” Jinu muttered with wide eyes. His fingers trailed over his cheek in a gentle caress trying to trace where her lips touched. The spot was hot. He watched until she disappeared inside the building. Jinu nearly walked into a lamppost on the way home.

oOo

Earlier that day when Jinu and Rumi had escaped the mall they had left six stalkers behind. They stood at the entrance of the mall and their eyes scanned the crowds.

“Someone with bright purple hair should not be that hard to spot,” Baby grumbled as he squinted.

“Your leader dragged her off to god knows where,” Mira muttered besides him. She was not happy with losing sight of Rumi.

“They dragged each other,” Abby corrected with a roll of his eyes.

“I think we lost them,” Zoey said with a sad sigh.

“Damn, that is disappointing,” Romance let out a sad noise. He had looked forward to seeing some real life romance blossom in front of him. All the better because he would get to tease Jinu.

“I wanted to make sure he treats her right,” Mira said as she ran her fingers through her hair. She was protective of her members. They were her family.

“More like she needs to treat him right,” Abby sniped back with a smirk. He didn’t want to see Jinu’s heart be broken.

“Rumi will treat him perfectly,” Mira said with a glare.

“Oh? I do hope so,” Abby said as he crossed his arms. His shirt buttons were straining against his chest muscles and Mira couldn’t help the way her eyes focused on the struggling buttons.

“When do you think the wedding will be?” Mystery said with an amused smile as he leaned down slightly to talk to Zoey, who flushed bright red. She let out a squeak. Mira saved her from answering.

“Why are you talking about weddings?!” Mira exclaimed. She waved her arms around as if to disperse the words.

“Spring would be a good time,” Romance mused out loud.

“Rumi always liked Autumn,” Zoey managed to comment after a moment.

“Stop it! They just had their first date!” Mira protested.

“Aw, you sound like a father struggling to give away his daughter,” Baby commented in a dry tone. Abby, Zoey and Romance howled with laughter. Mira gaped at them before she flushed bright red. Her face matched her hair.

“Dad Mira, it’s the return of mustache Mira!” Zoey exclaimed as she tried to suppress her giggles.

“Mustache Mira?” Abby asked with sparkling eyes.

“Yes, she lost a bet,” Zoey said as she started to frantically scroll through the pictures on her phone.

“Don’t you dare!” Mira managed to get out between gritted teeth. She reached out with clear intent to snatch the phone out of Zoey’s hands. Zoey evaded her hands with ease, it was not the first time that she had to escape her reach.

“Found it!” Zoey exclaimed with delight.

“Stop it!” Mira made a move as if to jump on Zoey to grab her phone. Abby grabbed her by the shoulders to hold her back.

“Show us!” Abby said with delight as he pushed Mira aside who was cursing up a storm.

Zoey proudly turned her phone around. On it Mira was displayed in all her glory wearing a fake moustache. It wasn’t a flimsy moustache, no it was a movie level costume one. It looked eerily real. It was also the same bright pink shade as Mira’s hair.

“Send that to me! I need it!” Abby exclaimed as he laughed loudly. In retaliation Mira stepped on his foot with her heel.

“Give me your number, I will send it immediately,” Zoey said with a broad grin.

“We should exchange numbers anyways, if only to create a group chat to complain about the two love sick fools,” Romance said with a grin.

“An alliance for Love,” Mystery said with a serious nod of his head.

The six of them exchanged numbers in front of the mall. They were still kind of blocking the entrance of the building but no one had complained so they didn’t notice. They even created a group chat. They used the one Rujinu shipping artwork from the fansign as their group chat picture.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Romance asked out loud. They had planned their whole day around stalking Jinu.

“There is a really awesome Karaoke Bar near here,” Zoey commented with a grin. She kept sneaking shy glances towards Mystery.

“Perfect, lead the way!” Abby exclaimed as he smiled. The six of them decided to head to the karaoke bar together.

While Rumi and Jinu had a lovely picnic they were in a karaoke bar, belting at the top of their lungs. Empty glasses and bottles littered the table in the centre of the room. Baby was the only sober one, who took great pleasure in taking as many pictures as possible for evidence. Romance was serenading Mira, who was ignoring him in order to arm wrestle with Abby. Mystery was singing his heart out in front of the karaoke machine. Zoey was drunkenly cheering him on.

Baby sent all the pictures to Jinu. He stole Rumi’s number from Zoey’s phone and also sent her the pictures. At some point, there was suddenly a pole in the middle of the room and Mira was showing off on it. Abby and Romance were loudly clapping. Zoey tried to kiss a wine bottle, thinking it was Mystery, while said Mystery was lying under the bench snoring and hugging Zoey’s handbag.

Baby was the one that had to somehow bring them all home. It was a mess.

He borrowed Mira’s phone to call their manager to let them in once they finally reached the Huntrix building. Their manager looked stupefied as Baby dumped the two idols at his feet. They cheered when they saw their manager and started hugging him like a teddy bear.

Getting the other three Saja Boys home was even worse. Mystery tried to climb a telephone pole, Romance was serenading a trashcan and Abby was trying to jog backwards while drunk. Baby let out a sigh of relief when Jelly met him halfway home. By the time they managed to corral them home, it was half past three in the morning.

Baby might have gotten so annoyed that he actually posted one of the pictures he had taken earlier on his instagram. The words beneath the post read ‘Because the Leaders were missing, I as the Maknae had to deal with these drunks’ and he added what felt like a hundred grumpy emoticons.

He whistled a merry tune before he headed for his bed.

Chapter Text

Rumi woke up to gentle sunlight illuminating her room. She had forgotten to pull down the blinds last night. Groggily, she sat up and let out a big yawn.

A happy melody left her lips as she hummed happily to herself while she got dressed. Her hair was up in a messy bun, they didn’t have a schedule until late in the afternoon. She walked past the living room into the kitchen. She came to a stop in the kitchen and walked backwards, back into the living room.

On the couch, both Mira and Zoey lay asleep. They were snoring and still wearing the clothes they had worn yesterday when they had played stalker. Rumi still needed to chew them out for that. She walked closer to them, intent on waking them up when she started to get a whiff of alcohol from them. Had they gone out drinking?

Rumi pulled out her phone, maybe they had sent her something yesterday evening. Her social media was blinking with notifications.

She also had messages from an unknown number. Hesitantly, she clicked on it. It was Baby from the Saja Boys. He had sent her pictures. It seemed like her members had fun while she was on her date.

It would have been fine if it had just been pictures of them sitting around a table with soju in their hands but no, Mira was having a pole dance competition with one of the Saja Boy members. There was a picture of another Saja Boy bench pressing Zoey. It was pure drunk chaos from what she could gather.

Baby had sent her nearly twenty pictures, each one more chaotic than the last. She left the chat with him and finally opened her social media.

Apparently, Baby had not only sent her pictures, but had also posted one of them on his insta. It was luckily one of the tamer ones. Zoey and Romance were loudly singing karaoke while Abby and Mira were arm wrestling. Mystery was seemingly falling asleep as he hung half off the bench in the room. At least it was not one of the pole dancing ones.

Rumi barely suppressed her sigh. Neither their agency nor Celine would be happy with this. Not that Mira would care. She did what she wanted. Zoey would have a harder time with the scolding, but in the end she was a free spirit. Rumi already knew that she would be scolded as well, since she is the leader and wasn’t there to keep her members in check. They were all full grown adult women able to handle themselves. Sometimes it felt like their agency and their fans forgot that.

Her phone vibrated in her hand. Baby Saja had sent her another message. It was one more picture. It was from inside the aquarium. He had captured the moment Jinu had touched her hair so reverently inside the tunnel. She stared at it and slowly ran her fingers over it.

Yesterday felt like a dream. A magical dream. She still couldn’t believe that it had been real. A groggy groan echoed in the living room. Right, her members.

Rumi decided that she would get her revenge right now. She walked back into the kitchen and grabbed the earplugs from one of their clutter drawers. Rumi put them in her ears before she went on the hunt for the most annoying songs. People had actually made playlists of the loudest and most annoying songs. With a wicked grin, Rumi connected her phone to her speakers. She set the volume to high and pressed play. Oppa Gangam Style started blasting from the speakers.

Rumi hummed happily to herself as she started to make breakfast.

oOo

Jinu stared down his members. He had gotten home to an empty flat the night before but because he was in such a good mood he had ignored it and just went straight to bed. Even though he spent the night tossing and turning because he still felt like he was flying.

Rumi was perfect. Their date had been perfect. He had spent hours planning different dates and choosing the aquarium out of all of them had been the right idea. He felt like he was on cloud nine. So he didn’t want anything to bring down his high.

He got woken up from his peaceful dreams when three drunk demons stumbled into the flat with the noise level of a herd of elephants. Even though he wanted to throttle them, Jinu still helped Jelly and Baby put them all to bed.
In the morning, he opened his social media to utter chaos. Baby's picture was going viral. Baby was often the least chaotic member, but he was still a shit stirrer.

Baby, Abby, Mystery and Romance were kneeling in front of him. Their heads were lowered and they were barely suppressing their pained grimace. Not even demons were saved from hangovers. Baby was the only one that was fine.

Jinu had spent the last thirty minutes lecturing them on their behaviour. Jelly was sitting on the couch, looking in their direction with worried eyes. He didn’t dare try to defend them.

Jinu pulled out his phone and called Ha-yun.

“Good morning, I already scolded them. Which practice room is free today?” Jinu asked with an evil grin. If they decided to stalk their leader and come home drunk they would need a punishment and what better way was there than to torture them with some dance practice?

He had written down some more lyrics and melodies in the last few days. Maybe it was time to create the special stage for the Idol Awards.

Under protests and pained laments Jinu dragged his members off to practice.

His members were sprawled on the floor gasping for breath. Jinu felt merciful and handed them some water bottles.

“You are a sadist,” Baby said with a pained groan. He struggled to open his water bottle.

“Perfectionistic bastard,” Abby muttered under his breath. He rolled out of the way of the kick Jinu tried to deliver to his thigh.

“I want to become one with the floor.” Romance was laying there, spread out like a sea star. Mystery grunted in agreement.

“The choreo is not that bad,” Jinu said before he drank his water. He was the only one still standing. His hair was sweaty but he wore a bright smile. He had a towel hanging over his shoulders with which he dabbed the sweat off his forehead.

“You are just insane,” Romance added.

“We shouldn’t allow him on anymore dates, his energy is way too high afterwards,” Abby complained. He got a towel thrown to his face for his words.

“Help me with this part of the choreo and stop complaining,” Jinu said with a roll of his eyes. Abby got up with a groan and walked over to Jinu’s side.

They went over the choreography one more time. Their movements were getting smoother.

Jinu could use ‘Your Idol’ for the Idol Awards but it felt wrong to use that song. He was also unsure if it would negatively affect the Honmoon. Even though it had been fine with.‘Soda Pop’, which was also a reference to soul sucking. He had three potential songs for the Awards. He had spent centuries with nothing better to do, so he had composed more than one song.

The three songs they were currently considering were Lighthouse, Inferno and Taint. Lighthouse was too much of a ballad, so the boys had immediately vetoed it. Conceptwise, Taint was the current favourite. So they decided to keep Inferno as a comeback song.

That left them with Taint, a fairly dark song to sing. They would need to do a complete wardrobe change because their Soda Pop outfits for the first song did not fit at all with the concept.

Thinking about the Idol Awards reminded him that he forgot to tell his members something important. Rumi had not yet gotten the all clear from the Idol Awards themselves but she told him via text that they seemed very interested.

“We are doing unit performances with Huntrix for the Idol Awards,” Jinu said nonchalantly and watched with amusement as his members stumbled over their own feet.

“We are doing what now?” Romance sputtered.

“Rumi suggested it,” Jinu said with a shrug.

“Of course, you agree with everything she says,” Baby said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Have you and your huntress forgotten that we are demons and they are hunters.” Abby sighed.

“You were the ones that got drunk with said hunters just yesterday.” Jinu reminded them with a snort.

“That was completely different.” Romance protested immediately as he gestured wildly.

“Rumi knows that I am a demon and she is fine with it,” Jinu said with a shrug. Well, she had held him at sword point.

“She knows what?!” They shrieked. Jinu covered his ears for fear of going deaf.

“Since when has she known?” Abby asked with a frown on his face.

“Since the beginning?” Jinu answered.

“And you never told us that she knows?” Romance inquired as he crossed his arms.

“I thought you knew,” Jinu said. He really had thought that they knew but now that he thought back on it he never told them that.

“New rule for our group, do not assume we know vital information just tell us please,” Baby said with a groan. The others nodded in agreement.

“Does Rumi even know that we are demons?” Mystery asked suddenly. He had quietly observed until that moment.

“I didn’t tell her,” Jinu admitted.

“Why?” Abby asked with a confused tilt of his head.

“Because it’s not my secret to tell?” Jinu said with a confused expression.

“So you were waiting for our permission to tell her.” Mystery summarised.

“That is more considerate than I expected,” Abby said as he grinned.

“What is that supposed to mean? I am plenty considerate.” Jinu glared at him.

“Eh, you just tortured us via dance moves, so I think that’s debateable,” Romance answered with a wave of his hand.

“He loves us,” Baby said with the most dead expression on his face.

“He really does.” Mystery nodded in agreement. Both of them said it so seriously that Jinu flushed.

“Group hug!” Abby shouted. Jinu sputtered but he didn’t manage to escape his clingy members. Soon he was squished in an inescapable demonic embrace.

oOo

“I still feel their sweat cling to me,” Jinu complained and Rumi barely managed to suppress her laughter. They were currently on the phone with each other. Rumi was leaning on the railing of her balcony. Jinu had been complaining about his members for a while.
Rumi had barely managed to escape her own members. Zoey and Mira had been relentless in their questions once their hangovers no longer stopped them. The annoying playlist worked wonders in getting them mobile.

Currently, Zoey had a scheduled call with some friends from America and Mira had a photoshoot for an ad campaign. Rumi had used the chance to call Jinu, who had abandoned the practice with his members to answer. She had heard loud shouts of ‘Thank you’ through the phone. Apparently, Jinu was a real slave driver when it came to practice.

“You are working hard,” Rumi commented with a small laugh.

“So are you. After all, the Idol Awards are in three weeks,” Jinu answered.

“Have you informed Mira and Zoey about the collaboration?” Jinu asked.

“Not yet,” Rumi admitted with a sigh.

“Talk to them,” Jinu said softly. Rumi knew that he was right. She needed to talk to her two members. She couldn’t keep it a secret for much longer; it was killing her.

“Can you be there?” Rumi asked softly.

“Do you want me there?” Jinu answered with a question of his own. Yes, she wanted him there. She needed someone that would stop her from running away. She needed someone there that had seen it all and was still there.

“I want you there,” Rumi said.

“Then I will be there,” Jinu answered. His voice sounded steady and strong.

“As long as you promise to keep me safe from them,” Jinu said with a lighthearted laugh. It made it impossible for her to tell if he truly felt afraid. He would be a demon in enemy territory. She could understand if he had fears but his steady voice made it seem as if he had no issues being close to all three of them.

“I will, I promise,” Rumi said gently. Some might say that he was bad but Jinu had been good for her. His words and his presence gave her strength. He saw her, he saw all of her, patterns and demonic heritage, and he still liked her and wanted her. She was not a mistake in his eyes and that felt so good.

“Good.” The smile in his voice was clear for her to hear. It brought a smile to her own lips.

“I got some ideas for the unit performances, I will ask Derpy to send them over later,” Jinu said.

“You could send them via your phone?” Rumi suggested with an amused smile. Jinu was still not used to having a mobile phone. He rather sent notes via Derpy than write her a message via the phone.

“Derby needs to stretch his legs,” Jinu immediately answered. Last time Rumi had mentioned that he had a phone for this he had said that he didn’t want his companions to get too lazy. Before that he had used the excuse that he didn’t know how to send messages when he had clearly sent her one before.
Getting little handwritten notes was sweet so Rumi kept her amusement to herself.

“I will be keeping Derpy tonight,” Rumi stated, there was no denying her words. Derpy would sleep over at her place. He was the perfect cuddle buddy. After her first call with Jinu he had kept her company overnight.

“Ah, already claiming my pets for yourself.” Jinu snorted.

“What can I say, they are very loveable.” Rumi shrugged with her shoulders even though Jinu couldn’t see it.

“What about me? Am I lovable?” Jinu asked playfully.

“Eh, only sometimes,” Rumi lied with a smirk.

“You wound me.” Jinu complained with a laugh. A voice shouted something on his side of the call.

“Oh, our managers are calling us about the schedule for tomorrow,” Jinu said. Disappointment was clear to hear in his voice. He wanted to keep talking to her.

“I will talk to you later,” Rumi said with a smile.

“If you need me just call.” Jinu promised. They exchanged one more goodbye before the call disconnected. Rumi looked at her phone and then stared out into the wide city stretched out below her balcony.

Her phone vibrated in her hands. She had gotten a message from Baby, it was a video file.

She clicked on play and the four Saja Boys appeared on her screen. Jinu was nowhere to be seen.

“Hello, sister-in-law!” They shouted in unison and Rumi nearly dropped the phone over the railing. She hastily clicked on stop. Her whole face was bright red. Oh god, they had called her sister-in-law like it was guaranteed that they would get married. She needed a moment to compose herself.

She took a deep breath before she pressed on play.

“Jinu has just gone outside to accept your call,” Abby said in the video.

“So we used the chance to film a small greeting,” Romance continued.

“And offer a bribe,” Mystery added.

“Jinu has just told us that he didn’t tell you a secret of ours,” Abby said. The four of them looked at each other before bringing out the jazz hands.

“We are demons,” they said in unison. Baby pulled a party popper from somewhere. Rumi blinked.

“We offer you this bribe, so that you don’t kill us,” Baby said as he held up a scroll. It seemed to be a poster.

“Please don’t kill us,” they chorused again. They unscrolled the poster and Rumi felt herself go red again. On the poster, Jinu was standing. He seemed to have just come out of the shower, his whole naked back was on display. Water droplets were running down his skin. There was a giant tiger tattoo adorning his back. He was wearing nothing but a towel. The picture was cut off at the knees.

“Don’t tell Jinu that we printed that picture.” Abby hissed.

“Or else he will try to kill us before you get the chance to,” Baby added. A loud noise could be heard somewhere off screen. They hurriedly put the poster away and stumbled over themselves to get to the mobile that was filming. The video got cut off. Rumi stared at her phone in stunned disbelief for a moment. She started to laugh, her laughter was wild and free. Her whole body was shaking with it. 

She had never before encountered such ridiculous demons, offering her a picture of half-naked Jinu in exchange for letting them live. She had never planned on killing them. She had already suspected that they were demons. She couldn’t help the giggles that shook her.

Chapter Text

Jinu woke up with a start. The last remains of his nightmare clung to him. Sweat ran down his temple and he looked as white as chalk. He had decided to take a short nap in his room after the photoshoot they had in the morning. He was regretting that nap now.

When he slept close together with the others, the nightmares didn’t haunt him as much. The other Saja Boys knew enough of nightmares to know that the simple comfort of someone being close was a blessing. They all had nightmares just as they all had their sins.

He could still hear the screams echo in his ears. The stench of burning bodies still lingered in his nose and the touch of cold hands remained on his skin. The feeling of consuming souls pulsed in his veins. It was a disgusting feeling, like a taint on his skin.

He scrambled out of bed. Even his clothes were drenched in sweat. He pulled his sweat drenched t-shirt over his head and dumped it in the hamper. Inside the bathroom he splashed water on his face.

His reflection stared back at him with glowing golden eyes, as if it was mocking him. He was a demon and the sins of his past were still haunting him. He was resolved to not repeat his mistakes. There would be no more death because of him.

He dried his face with a towel and flung it over his shoulders when his phone vibrated. It was a pop up message that Huntrix had posted something on instagram. Rumi was grinning up at him from the screen.

Unconsciously an answering smile rose on his lips. Just seeing her face already put him in a completely different mood.

A knock resounded on his door, it was probably one of his members. Their presence would be good after the nightmare no matter how annoying they were. They understood. Jinu had learned about their sins just as they had learned about his. Jinu looked at the smiling face of Rumi one last time before he put his phone away with a sigh. He opened the door and nearly got a fist to the face.

Mystery was standing on the other side, frozen in the middle of knocking.

“You are very lucky that you stopped in time,” Jinu said with a fake smile that promised pain, had the fist collided with his face.

“What happened?” Jinu asked. He barely suppressed the sigh that wanted to escape him even before he knew what mess his members had created.

“We might have tried out one of the games the fans suggested,” Mystery admitted. He was avoiding direct eye contact.

“Seriously? After the monopoly disaster during the last Vlive?” Jinu let out a groan. During their last Vlive one of the fans had suggested monopoly. They had to nearly cancel the Vlive because Abby and him got into a bit of a brawl. Ha-Yun had to step in three times to explain the rules again after Romance tried to cheat repeatedly. Baby was the winner by a long shot. The others still suspect that he cheated somehow as well though no one could prove it.

“Thats why we wanted to try it out before doing it during a Vlive,” Mystery said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“So what kind of mess am I dealing with?” Jinu asked as he took a deep breath trying to remain calm and not shout.

“One of the fans suggested Twister,” Mystery said with a wince.

He entered the living room to the sight of Abby and Romance being completely entangled. Somehow, their clothes had even become intertwined. Jelly had tried to help and also gotten caught in it. He was looking at him with large teary eyes. Baby was sitting on the sofa pretending the whole thing was not happening. He was fiddling with his phone. Jinu had the sneaking suspicion that he was either filming or taking pictures. Baby had made it his goal in life to take as many embarrassing pictures as possible of his members.

“How on earth did you guys manage that?” Jinu asked with alarm. Unbelievable. 

“Talent,” Baby deadpanned from the couch, sucking on a lollipop.

“Okay, let’s see if we can unwrap this mess,” Jinu sighed.

The first one they managed to free was Jelly who had gotten caught by his belt loops, plus Abby's arms had caged him in. Somehow, the zipper of Abby’s jacket and Romance’s jacket had gotten wedged together. Jinu had to actually cut the fabric much to Romance’s despair. He complained the whole time. Abby had been wearing a fishnet as a top, once again trying to show off his abs. That fishnet top was his doom; it got caught in Romance’s jewelry. Jinu cursed loudly. He couldn’t help himself.

“I see, you guys are even more chaotic in person than I expected,” A voice suddenly said. Jinu looked up startled Rumi was standing behind the couch with her arms crossed.

Utter mayhem broke out. Baby let out a startled yelp. Romance and Abby became even more entangled and fell on top of Jelly. Mystery tried to run but only managed to fall over the other members. Jinu was frozen like a marble statue. He was still topless and he could feel Rumi’s stare.

"How are you here?!" Romance exclaimed loudly.

"And how did you know where we live?!" Abby added with a horrified expression. There was still a demon tangle in the middle of the floor. 

"Bobby called your agency, and one of your managers led the way," Rumi answered simply as she pointed towards the door she had just entered from. Ha-yun waved at them as she peeked into the room. She quickly disappeared again.

"Why are you here?" Mystery asked from his position on the floor. He had given up on getting up.

“How rude! I have come to receive my bribe,” She announced with a broad grin. Her eyes seemed to be laughing.

“What bribe?” Jinu asked, his face filled with confusion. He looked at his members who were all avoiding his eyes.

After a moment of awkward silence, Baby managed to get back on his feet. He ran off to somewhere and came back only a moment later. 

“I offer thee the sacrifice,” He said solemnly and handed Rumi the rolled up poster.

“What is that?” Jinu asked. He was still feeling very much lost and confused.

“Our Life Insurance,” The other Saja Boys answered as one. Their eyes were twinkling with some kind of mischief. It immediately put Jinu slightly on edge. He feared that they might have told more than one embarrassing story to Rumi. Rumi quickly packed the poster away before Jinu could ask more questions.

“Why do I feel wary of whatever deal you guys struck behind my back,” Jinu eyed them distrustfully.

“We would never do anything behind your back,” Romance protested. Jelly let out a small noise of distress. He was just as confused as Jinu.

“I am not only here for my bribe, we need to plan the award show stage,” Rumi said with a grin. She was forcing herself to only look at his face and not at his body. It was hard. Her eyes kept glancing downwards. His muscles were distracting.

“Right, follow me to the practice room, we can discuss things there,” Jinu said, deciding to ignore whatever that whole weirdness had been. He kind of wanted to know but by the mischievous light in all of their eyes it was better if he knew nothing.

“Better put on a shirt if you want the discussion to remain innocent,” Abby called with a whistle.

Jinu startled, he had forgotten that he was still topless. Rumi flushed bright red at Abbys words and her eyes wandered to the other side of the room.

“Right, a shirt,” Jinu said. He only now realized that the reason Rumi’s gaze kept drifting from his face was the fact that she had been glancing at this bare chest. He felt flattered but also embarrassed.

“Yeah, a shirt is something that people wear,” Baby commented with a snort. Mystery hid his laughter.

“I will go and put one on,” Jinu pointed towards his room. As he walked there he tripped over his own feet much to the amusement of everyone else.

Rumi was left behind with the other Saja Boys. For a moment awkward silence reigned. Romance decided to break it.

“So if you are not here to kill us, mind lending us a hand?" He asked with an awkward smile. Jinu had just left them entangled.

“Why should I?” Rumi asked with a teasing grin. From all the stories she had heard from Jinu these men could deal with a little teasing since they were the source of the first grey hair Jinu would ever get.

“Because you are an awesome sister-in-law?” Abby asked with a charming grin. Rumi rolled her eyes but her cheeks felt hot. She decided to show them some mercy. Jelly flinched when she stepped closer, he was watching her with wide eyes. Rumi hoped that the smile she sent him was reassuring and harmless.

It took her a moment to separate the fishnet from Romance' jewelry. Baby had pulled out his phone again and was filming the whole procedure with a wicked grin. With a noise of triumph Rumi managed to detangle the boys from each other. A chorus of thank yous made her smile broaden.

“We can go, if you want,” Jinu said with a grin. He was leaning against the doorframe. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt. He had a messenger bag slung over his shoulder and he was holding his guitar case.

“Let’s go,” Rumi said with a grin. She waved towards the others and just as they were about to step outside they had to get one final tease in.

“See you soon, sister-in-law,” They shouted after her. Jinu promptly stumbled over his own feet but managed to catch himself. He was bright red. Rumi was not any better.

The walk towards the practice room was done mostly in silence, both of them were too mortified to speak. Jinu made the silent vow that he would train his members to exhaustion as soon as he got the chance. He held the door open for her.

Their practice room was quite simple. One of the walls was covered in nothing but mirrors. They made themselves comfortable in one corner of the room.

“You have decided on the songs?” Rumi asked with a question. She had talked with Zoey and Mira about the collaboration. Zoey had been over the moon excited whereas Mira had been a bit more sceptical. Zoey had pressed a lyric notebook into her hand. It was her collab notebook. All the songs and lyrics she considered perfect for collaboration.

“I have two songs that would fit perfectly for Mira, Abby and Romance,” Jinu said. He had written the song after the aquarium date. He had seen the screenshots of them getting drunk together and found some inspiration. He handed his notebook over to Rumi.

“Troublemaker or Red Hurricane, both songs fit them well,” Rumi pondered.
“Did your members say which one they prefer?” Rumi asked.

“Abby wants Red Hurricane and Romance likes Troublemaker more,” Jinu said with a sigh.

“So it’s Mira’s decision,” Rumi concluded at his nod, she quickly photographed the lyrics and sent the picture towards Mira.

“For Mystery, Zoey and Baby I have only one song, namely Starseeker,” Jinu pointed towards the page.

“I think Zoey has got two songs that would fit them,” Rumi said as she flipped through Zoey’s notebook. She pointed towards the songs she meant.

“I am gonna send a picture to Baby and Mystery," Jinu said as he took a photo of the lyrics.

“For us I have one song, it’s called ‘Free’,” Jinu said softly as he flipped towards one of the pages in the far back.

“I also have one song,” Rumi pulled a new notebook out of her bag. It was not one of Zoey’s, it was her own. She had written two songs with Jinu in mind. One was still untitled, and the other had the temporary title ‘Reaching Heaven’. It was sappy and far too romantic, but Rumi was also weirdly proud of the song.

She read through the song Jinu had written and her heart nearly stopped. The song was nearly identical to the one she had written that had no title. Her fingers trailed over the ink in quite reverence. She immediately knew that it was about them just as Jinu knew for whom she had written reaching heaven was. He ran his fingers over the words dragging each other out of hell into the light.

“Do you want to try singing them?” Jinu asked softly as if speaking louder would disturb them. Rumi nodded. Jinu pulled his biba out of the guitar case much to Rumis confusion. He lightly explained that the Biba case still hasn’t arrived so he was using a guitar case until then.

“We are burning in a fire of our own making

We are both shaking, shaking oh

Foundations crumbling

Like sand in the tears that fell,

The distant sound of a bell,

Can you hear the thunder rumbling,

And yet when you held my hand

It felt like salvation, elation

Like a little bit of peace

A bit of peace,”

Like a haunting melody the verses filled the room. Goosebumps rose on her arms. Jinu’s voice singing the words she wrote made her feel like she was flying. Him gently caressing the words she had put on paper made her want to cry. She bit her lip to stop the sting of tears. They started to sing the chorus together.

“Can you hear the bell in this hell

Heaven is calling yet why am I still falling

You met me in the dark, you were the spark

Lifting me high above clouds, erasing all my doubts

Dragging each other out of hell into the light

So we can shine bright, oh so bright

Reaching towards our Heaven”

Their voices echoed with the softest emotion and warmth spread throughout. They sounded good together. The Honmoon rippled around them in happiness. Rumi couldn’t help the smile that broke across her lips as their voices danced together.

“Should we try out ‘Free’?” Jinu asked with a warm smile. His eyes were shining with too many emotions for Rumi to decipher them all but what she could clearly see was the simple joy of singing together.

“Why does it feel right every time I let you in?

Why does it feel like I can tell you anything?

We can't fix it if we never face it

What if we find a way to escape it?”

They started to sing Free, each of their verses clearly made for each other. Her voice reached new heights as it leaped free and boundless. Jinu’s voice was a steady undercurrent lifting her higher and higher.

“We could be free, free

We can't fix it if we never face it

Let the past be the past 'til it's weightless

Oh, so take my hand, it's open

What if we heal what's broken?”

The words of Free made something in Rumi’s chest vibrate like a thousand angel wings. It felt as if they were flying as the song’s notes danced around them. The Honmoon flickered in a rainbow of colours, they glittered at the edges of her vision. Like the fading embers of fireworks.

Their eyes met and for a moment Rumi saw the reflection of tears in Jinu’s eyes before they disappeared.

Both songs were beautiful but her soul resonated with Free. Their hearts echoed the beats of the songs. It was decided that they would perform free but they would record reaching heaven as well. It was too good to leave it behind.

They spent what felt like hours in the practice room going over the songs and over potential choreo. They tried out different dance moves, discarded half of them and redid the choreo at least three times. They lost track of time.

Ha-Yun knocked on the door reminding Jinu that they had a fan sign late in the afternoon and that he should be getting ready for that. She looked a bit starstruck by Rumi, who greeted her politely. Ha-Yun managed to get caught on the doorknob with her hoodie when she hurriedly tried to leave, much to her mortification. Jinu snickered as she nearly ran away.

“She is a big Huntrix fan,” Jinu informed her with a grin.

“So just like you,” Rumi answered with a laugh.

“I am not denying that, I adore you,” Jinu said softly and Rumi felt her heart trip over itself.

“Well, I tolerate you,” Rumi said quickly as she stumbled over her words. She liked him but saying the words out loud was not possible for her just yet. Jinu laughed at her words.

“I am gonna return to the flat and get ready,” Jinu said as he stretched. He started to gather all of his stuff.

“I will call you later,” Jinu said with a grin. He wanted to hug her but he wasn’t sure if he could. Rumi took a deep breath. She might not yet be able to say the words but she could show it through actions. She stepped forward into his space and hugged him.

It was a short squeeze before she released him and Jinu looked like he was short circuiting just from that.

“I will see you later,” Rumi said with a grin. He waved at her, his eyes never left her as he walked out the door.

She had only known him for a short while and yet it felt like he was already carrying a piece of her with him wherever he went. A piece of her heart. Heat rose to her cheeks and she fanned herself with her hand trying to disperse the redness. She grabbed the notebooks and the random pieces of paper that were laying scattered on the ground. She would need to hurry if she wanted her little surprise to work.

oOo

Jinu smiled for the fans and made a heart with his hands. Squeals and shouts answered him at his action. Jinu was wearing a flowercrown on his head. Mystery had a headband with puppy ears on. Romance was wearing a giant heart around his head, he honestly looked ridiculous but the fans were happy. Baby had gotten a water pistol from one of the fans and by the gleam in his eyes he was planning on using it on the other Saja boys later.

Jinu couldn’t help the easy smile that rose to his lips at the enthusiasm of the fans. They were adorable. A little girl had handed him a drawing again. He carefully put it with the other gifts. His hand was cramping a bit after all the albums and posters he had to sign.

The shipper girl was there as well. Jinu had to sign the shirt with the ridiculous Rujinu artwork. He had the sneaking suspicion that the girl would bring the shirt for the next Huntrix signing as well.

He was chatting so much with the fans that his throat was starting to feel sore. He reached towards his water. It was his second bottle. He unscrewed the bottle and just as he was about to take a sip a hand wrapped around his wrist stopping him.

“Don’t,” Mystery growled. He was showing teeth. Jinu froze.

“What?” Jinu asked softly. He slowly lowered the bottle of water. Mystery leaned closer. He was whispering into his ear. Jinu ignored the loud squeals the fans let out at the action.

“Something is off with the water in your bottle, it stinks,” Mystery said. His nose was wrinkled as if the stench was unbearable. Jinu looked at the water. It seemed like normal water but Mystery’s nose doesn’t lie. He was a dog demon and his sense of smell was heightened.

Calmly he put the water bottle down. Mystery released his wrist and refocused on the starry eyed fan standing in front of his table. Jinu sent an apologetic smile towards the fan that was in front of him before he raised his hand towards his manager. Jelly rushed to his side.

“I am going to the bathroom for a moment, I will be right back,” He said with a reassuring smile. Jelly nodded and went to talk with Ha-yun. His fans would have to wait for a moment. He grabbed the bottle from the table before and hurried into the hallway towards the bathroom. He dumped the contents of the bottle into the flowerpot outside of the bathrooms. A sizzling sound echoed in the hallway. Jinu watched silently as the plant wilted.

Someone was targeting him or his voice, he thought grimly.

Chapter Text

Rumi felt like she was melting. It was sweltering inside of the building. She was wearing a hoodie, a cap and a face mask, trying to make sure that none of the people around her would recognize her. She had hidden her hair under a cap and inside her hoodie. Her back looked a bit lumpy but she didn’t really care. The security guard that checked her before she entered the venue looked a bit freaked out when all of her hair was revealed and apologized a million times once he recognized her.

Rumi was currently standing in line for the Saja Boys signing event. She needed to return the favour. She could have worn the caterpillar-like sleeping bag but she had standards, instead she looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame with all her hair hidden beneath her hoodie.

She was surrounded by Saja Boy fans, or rather pride members. She had heard enough gushing over Abby’s abs for a lifetime. She had thought Mira and Zoey were bad but these girls took the cake for it all. One of them had proudly shown her friend a fan art of nothing but his abs. While she was standing in the line she heard more and more outrageous things. Like licking honey off someone’s pecks. That was the mildest thing she heard. There was also talk about leashes which desperately tried to tune out. Hell, one of them had shown fanart to one of her friends on her mobile and Rumi caught a glimpse of the screen. It was Abby and Baby in a very compromising position. At this rate Rumi feared that she resembled a tomato more than a human being.

Mira would have gotten a kick out of it. She would have asked for the fanart just so that she could traumatize the Saja Boys. She had also proudly shown Zoey and Rumi every shipping artwork she could find. They had barely managed to stop her from commenting with their official account. She only got a bit flustered when the fanart was only of herself whereas Zoey hoarded all fanart like a dragon of fairytales. Zoey had folders upon folders on her mobile with all of the fanart. She saved everything, even the artworks that were definitely not child appropriate. Though she looked like a steamed bun when she saved the more mature ones. Rumi tried her best to ignore the fans around her.

Instead, she let her eyes wander over to the Saja Boys. Jinu was wearing a blue flowercrown. It looked lovely on him. He was smiling as he gestured when he talked to the fan in front of him. The others were also talking to them with enthusiasm.

It seemed impossible that they were demons. They were acting just like humans.

The heart around Romance’s head looked hilarious and Rumi had already sent a picture of it into the groupchat. Mira was dying of laughter. She had also sent a picture of Mystery for Zoey. She had received nothing but a string of heart emojis in answer, followed by gushing.

She watched as a little girl struggled to stand on her tiptoes to see over the edge of the table. She handed him a piece of paper. Jinu’s smile softened in answer. The little girl was grinning from ear to ear when she walked away.

She adored this clumsy and gentle demon. Maybe this was what her mother had seen in her father as well. Something other than the demonic features, something worth loving. She could almost imagine her mother’s voice telling her she loved her as she gently ran her fingers over the patterns on her arms. The marks that showed that she was her father’s daughter.

Sometimes, in the quiet of the night, she couldn’t help but think of him, think of what kind of person he had been. What kind of demon had received her mother’s love. Her father was a mystery but the more she got to know Jinu the more she wanted to know her father. Was he like Jinu? A demon trapped in a hell of his own making? Had he atoned for a sin he had committed centuries ago? Was he kind like Jinu?

Before she had met Jinu, she had never allowed herself to dwell on these thoughts. Nowadays she lets them remain for a while longer. The word “father” was allowed to exist in her mind for more heartbeats than ever before.

She was changing. Maybe the changes were not for the better but she was starting to like who she was becoming. That morning she had looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes had trailed over her patterns and for once she had no urge to smash the mirror and hide.

It was thanks to him.

Jinu, completely unaware of her thoughts, was joking around with a fan. His smile was lighting up the room. It was lighting up her world.

He was like the sun in the dark, shining light on the parts she wanted to hide, not to hurt but to show her how even those patterns she hated so much all her life could be beautiful.

She sounded like a lovesick poet trying to desperately bring his love onto the parchment. Rumi shook her head to clear her thoughts but the smile just wouldn’t leave her lips.

She needed to think of something else before she combusted. She let her gaze trail over the crowd. So far everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. Rumi had caught sight of a few demons in the crowd. Their eyes were sparkling and their arms packed with merch. Even with their patterns barely showing on their arms she found them cute. They were trailing after Jinu like lost little ducklings.

One of the demons was nearly crying when Jinu shook her hand. She was babbling and Jinu was listening patiently. He looked a bit weirded out by the amount of tears, but he still handed her a tissue and smiled. Rumi barely managed to suppress her snort when she caught sight of the next fan.

It was the fan that had also been at the Huntrix signing event. She recognized the shirt she was wearing. The “Rujinu” print was written in bold letters. She handed Jinu an identical shirt for signing. Jinu looked mildly disturbed, but also highly amused.

She could see him sigh and rub his throat after the fan left. She knew the feeling of talking too much until your throat fell sore. He had just raised his water to drink something when Mystery grabbed his wrist. He looked serious and when he whispered into Jinu’s ear just for a moment Jinu’s expression fell. Something dark passed over his face for a moment.

Rumi watched as Jinu got up and left the table. Something was wrong. She could see that his hand was trembling where he was clutching the water bottle. He left the room.

Staff was informing the fans that the signing would resume in a moment. Mystery got up as well and went to each of the members to whisper something in their ear. Rumi had a bad feeling when all the members showed a fleeting dark expression at whatever Mystery was telling them.

She had a bad feeling about it. Jinu returned before she could imagine the worst case scenario. He was smiling at the fans but Rumi noticed that something was off. His smile no longer reached his eyes. It looked fake, like a mask he had painted on his face. His movement had become more robotic and stiff. As if his mind was elsewhere. She saw the glances his members sent towards him.

Whatever had happened still lingered. He was worried. Rumi slowly moved towards the signing table. There were only five fans left in front until it would be her turn.

oOo

Jinu tried to act normal but he could feel that his smile looked fake. He just hoped that none of the fans would notice.

Someone was targeting him. He was not yet sure if it was an obsessive fan or a demon. It was clearly targeted towards his voice. Which was clever, destroy his voice and he would be unable to sing. If he couldn’t sing, the demons would start to hear Gwi-Ma’s voice again.

He would have to be careful and he needed to tell his members to be careful as well. They might become collateral damage if whoever was targeting him switched methods. He didn’t want them to be caught in the cross fire. He could feel their worried glances.

It was sweet how much they worried about it. In their last life they had been more like empty husks. They had laughed and joked then too but it had been subdued. Now they were filled with personality and emotion. They laughed and joked. Their faces were animated as they talked.

They were like flowers unfurling underneath the sun for the first time. It warmed him to see and he did not want anyone to trample the fresh blooms. So he would try to keep them safe.

For a moment he just watched them. They were laughing with the fans, clearly enjoying the event to the fullest. Unlike the previous signing event they had shared with Huntrix, he had not forced them to sleep on the sidewalk with him, so they were less tired and grumpy. Mystery had only slipped once. Only one fan got barked at and Jinu had stepped on his foot in retaliation.

They were nearly done with the signing part of the event. After that there would be a small photo session where the fans got the chance to take pictures. There were only four fans left.

Soon he would be able to have a moment to himself. He needed to collect his thoughts. His attention was only halfheartedly on his fans; he hated it. He wanted to give them his full attention but he was currently too distracted by the attack and all the thoughts it had pulled to the surface.

“Something happened, you don’t look good,” A familiar voice intoned from in front of him. His eyes widened when the mask was pulled down. Rumi was frowning at him.

“Rumi,” He was careful not to raise his voice. There was something like awe in his voice.

“Hi,” She wore a small smile as she waved at him. He was gaping at her and he could hear the snickers of his members. He closed his mouth with an audible click.

“Are you all right?” She asked softly.

“I’m fine,” He said with an honest smile. The words because you are now here he barely managed to keep to himself. He did not want to come off as too eager.

“Are you sure?” Rumi asked as she eyed him doubtfully. He nodded. Rumi eyed him suspiciously for a moment.

“I had thought you would be happier to see me,” Rumi said with a pout. Her eyes were twinkling. She was teasing him and his heart stumbled over itself in answer.

“I am always ecstatic to see you,” He answered with a broad grin.

“Good, so stop your frowning,” Rumi said as she reached out and lightly poked his forehead.

“I never frowned,” Jinu protested. Rumi let out a soft laugh. The staff member behind Jinu cleared his throat with an apologetic look. Right, they don’t have time for their usual endless banter.

“What do you want to have signed?” Jinu asked with a grin.

“I want you to sign my bribe,” Rumi said with a wicked grin. Her eyes were dancing with laughter. Romance had taken a sip of his own water, following a security sniff of Mystery, after hearing Rumi he swallowed it the wrong way. He was coughing up a storm. The other members were avoiding Jinu’s gaze.

“Okay?” Jinu asked with a suspicious look. There was something amiss here. She handed him a rolled up poster.

He unrolled the poster only to immediately freeze. He quickly closed it again. His face was bright red.

“Baby!” He hissed loudly. His head whipped towards his member.

“I told you to delete that picture!” Jinu hissed. He was completely red in the face.

“You told me not to post the picture, you never said anything about deleting it,” Baby answered with a wicked grin.

“Why does Rumi have it?!” Jinu growled. His whole face felt like it was on fire. Rumi watched the whole spectacle with unadulterated amusement.

“We needed a bribe,” Abby said seriously.

“For what?!” Jinu almost wailed.

“Ensurance that she doesn’t kill us,” Mystery said with a nod. The fans were whispering among themselves as they watched the chaos unfold. The staff had seemingly given up on trying to stop them.

“Why would she even kill you?!” Jinu nearly shouted.

“Demon reveal and all that,” Mystery whispered to him as he leaned closer for a moment. He waved his hand like it was a simple matter. Jinu let out a groan.

“And for that you had to give her a poster of me in nothing but a towel?!” Jinu furiously whispered.

“We thought she would appreciate the view,” Baby said with a wicked grin. Rumi flushed red at his words.

“You guys are the worst,” Jinu complained. He would leave them to drown the next time they asked for help.

“Aw, don’t be too mean, it was a lovely bribe,” Rumi was grinning at him even with her red cheeks.

“Well, at least you seemed to have appreciated it,” Jinu muttered. His cheeks still felt like they were burning.

“It’s not bad to look at,” Rumi smirked and Jinu felt like there was steam rising from his ears.

“I bet you looked a lot,” Jinu said, trying to get back on even ground.

“There was a lot on display for me to see.” Rumi purred and Jinu felt like he was dying. The room felt so hot like it was boiling.

“Too bad that the towel was there,” the only sign that Rumi felt embarrassed by what she said was the hint of red on her ears.

“You are unfair,” Jinu said with a whine as he let his head fall onto the table. The cool wood felt lovely against his overheated skin. A shiver ran down his spine when he felt her fingers lightly run through his hair. He lifted his head and her hand fell away.

“Now, you know how I have been feeling,” Rumi said with a light laugh.

“I was not nearly as bad for the heart,” Jinu muttered.

“You are worse, you make my heart tremble and stop,” Rumi admitted with only a mild dusting of pink across her cheeks. She was being bold and the more flustered Jinu got the more confident she felt. Jinu let out another whine. She was unfair. His heart would not survive this encounter.

“Unfair,” He hissed and her laughter sounded like a choir of angels in answer.

“You are cute,” She giggled.

“Who are you and what have you done with my repressed huntress?” Jinu whispered.

“Your huntress?” Rumi asked with an arched brow and a smirk.

“Just shoot me,” Jinu muttered as he covered his face with his hands.

“Please stop killing our leader,” Baby drawled from the side.

“I don’t think he is going to survive much more,” Abby added. Jinu let out another whine. He had forgotten that they had an audience. The fans were watching with wide eyes.

“This time the scandal is not going to be our fault,” Romance said with a laugh. Rumi and Jinu were both blushing heavily.

“Right,” Jinu quickly unscrolled the poster and placed his signature on the bottom right corner.

“See you tomorrow,” Rumi said as she snatched the poster and hurriedly left the venue. Tomorrow they will appear on The Show together.

Chapter Text

After the fan sign, the rumor mill started to spin. Thanks to the distance between the table and the fans, they weren’t able to hear all of the conversation but the snippets that were heard caused a fire of curiosity to burn. No one had been able to identify Rumi so far, which was good since Bobby would have murdered her or he would have fainted from high blood pressure. Jinu had gotten scolded heavily by his agency. Much to the amusement of his members. He even had to give a statement that the person at the fansign was just a fan. The statement had not been very convincing. Jinu rolled his eyes through it all.

He watched silently as Rumi clapped out the rhythm for Mira, Abby and Romance. The three of them were struggling with the choreography. Or rather Romance was struggling and the other two were more or less collateral damage.

Mira had threatened to behead him more than once after he stepped on her toes repeatedly. Abby was less of a problem but she had also promised to kill him slowly if he dared to pick her up without warning one more time. Rumi had gone over to them to help Romance stay on beat.

Baby, Zoey and Mystery didn’t have that problem. Instead, they had a different issue all together. It was painfully obvious that Zoey liked Mystery. Very painfully obvious. She would be speaking and her words would trail off into nothing as she stared at him. She seemed to almost melt. It was a wonder that her eyes hadn’t turned into literal hearts. It didn’t help that Mystery froze whenever Zoey got too close. Beneath the fringe he was probably blushing. Baby was the only one who managed to go through the choreography smoothly. His face was emotionless while behind him the other two were a fumbling mess.

Jinu watched it all silently for a moment before he decided to go over to them and help. It was almost comical how quickly Zoey was all professional and serious with him but became a giggling mess as soon as Mystery was close by.

“Are you doing okay? I keep seeing you freeze up?” Jinu asked as he pulled Mystery aside for a moment.

“I think I am dying,” Mystery whined, sounding more than ever like a puppy begging for attention.

“Okay?” Jinu asked with a sceptical expression.

“Everytime I catch a whiff of her scent, I freeze,” Mystery complained.

“Oho?” A grin slowly grew on Jinu’s face, he was clearly amused by the whole situation.

“So you like her scent?” Jinu asked as he leaned closer. Mystery avoided his gaze.

“I think it is more than just her scent that you like,” Jinu’s smile was a bit diabolical. Mystery let out another whine before he decided to escape to the restroom.

“He is a mess,” Baby said as he walked to Jinu’s side.

“It’s kind of adorable,” Jinu commented with a laugh.

“Not as much of a mess as you are,” Baby added with a roll of his eyes.

“Your eyes have barely left her all morning,” He continued as he pointed in the direction where Rumi was helping Romance.

“Have I really looked at her that much?” Jinu asked with a confused frown. Sure, he was aware of her presence at all times but it didn’t feel like his eyes were constantly glued to her.

“It’s pathetic,” Baby concluded with a smirk.

“How dare you talk to your leader like that,” Jinu protested and grabbed Baby in a headlock. Baby let out a loud protest as his hair was ruffled. They struggled with each other for a bit. It turned into a small playfight.

A loud bang interrupted them. With wide eyes they looked to the other side of the room. Mira had thrown Abby over her shoulder and onto the ground. He was laying there with wide eyes.

“For the one hundredth time, do not suddenly grab me,” Mira hissed at him.

“You need to fucking learn what personal space is!” Mira growled. Her ears were tinted red.

Abby was staring up at her with awe clearly written all over his face. Romance had the same look. Jinu barely suppressed the sigh that wanted to escape him.

“Damn, that was hot,” Abby blurted out. A completely unrepentant grin was on his face.

“Aghhh” Mira let out a small shout of frustration before she stalked to the other side of the room to aggressively drink her water. Zoey was also standing at that corner, glancing repeatedly at the door, clearly waiting for Mystery to return.

“Are you sure that this is going to work out?” Rumi asked. Jinu was startled; she had suddenly reappeared at his side. He dropped his hold on Baby, who huffed and rolled his eyes. He knew that all of his leader's focus would now return to the huntress. It was time to return to practice.
Rumi looked sceptical as she pointed towards Zoey, who was almost drooling at a returned Mystery, and Mira, who was glaring at Abby with the force of a thousand suns.

“We will absolutely rock the Idol Awards,” Jinu said with a grin. Rumi returned it and they lightly brushed shoulders before they returned to practicing. They needed to get this perfect and they would. The idol awards would be a show to remember.

oOo

A roar of applause filled the room as the winner of the show was announced. Huntrix had won with ‘Golden’. A bouquet of flowers was placed in their hands. Confetti was falling from the ceiling like a rain shower.

Jinu and the other members of the Saja boys were clapping with enthusiasm. Rumi glanced over to them and Jinu sent her a small smile. He looked good in his Soda Pop outfit. The light colours seemed to almost make him glow. But darker clothes also suited him so much.

Rumi refocused on the host, who was still speaking. After the announcement of the winner, he had gone on a long tangent of the achievements of Huntrix. Jinu had discreetly rolled his eyes, much to the amusement of his members. Rumi had watched from the backstage area when the Saja Boys had performed Soda Pop. They were good. They all seemed to delight in being on stage. Especially Jinu seemed to light up from within. Mira and Zoey had joined her in watching their juniors.

They were too new to beat Huntrix, but their fandom was steadily growing. Rumi knew it was only a matter of time before the Saja Boys could truly rival them. She was looking forward to it.

The idea of competing with Jinu for show wins and awards sounded like fun. She glanced over to Jinu, he was whispering something into Abby’s ear. Abby let out a small laugh before stepping closer to Romance to relay whatever Jinu had told him. Rumi watched for a moment how the light of the stage caressed his face. One of the lights on his face started to move and flicker. A shadow fell over him and the Saja Boys. Rumi frowned. That should not be happening. She looked up and felt her heart stop.

One of the large stage lights, a large spotlight, was falling. It had broken loose and was now rapidly descending towards the spot Jinu was standing at. A fall from that height could seriously injure him. It could even be fatal.

“Jinu!” The shout left her lips. Fear and adrenaline flooded her veins.

It was as if time started to slow. His head turned towards her. He didn’t know of the danger. He would not be able to react in time. An image of Jinu with blood running down his face flickered in front of her eyes. Rumi reacted before she could really think about it.

Petals scattered across the floor as she dropped the Bouquet. Rumi sprinted across the stage. She just saw Jinu’s eyes widen before she collided with him. Together they crashed onto the ground of the stage.

A loud crash resounded. The sound of splintering glass reverberated on the stage. Shards of glass flew everywhere at the impact. Shouts and screams echoed loudly. A cacophony of noises rose, but Rumi didn’t care at all. She only had eyes for the one that lay beneath her. She had sheltered him with her own body.

Jinu looked at her with wide eyes. She was laying on him. Slowly, she lifted herself so that she was propped up. She looked down at him. His hair was a wild mess, but it didn’t seem like he was hurt, apart from a small cut on his cheek. Rumi gently touched his face.

“Are you all right?” She asked as she cupped his cheek. Her thumb gently rubbed over his cheekbone. He leaned into the touch and barely managed to nod. His eyes were wide and it looked almost like he was in shock.

“Jinu!” Romance kneeled down besides them. His eyes were wide and worried.

“Are you all right?” Mira hovered beside them with an anxious frown. Her hands were restless as if she tried to help.

“Did the glass cut you anywhere?” Zoey was biting her lip with worry. Mystery and Abby gently helped Rumi back onto her feet.

“I’m fine,” Rumi waved their concern off. Zoey gently inspected her. There were some glass shards on her clothes but none had actually cut her.

“Are you sure that you should already get up?” Romance asked with a worried frown. Jinu was attempting to sit up much to the concern of his friends. Abby was helping him get back onto his feet. Other than the small cut on his cheek, Jinu seemed uninjured. However, when Rumi had saved him, he had managed to fall wrong. His ankle was hurting mildly, but it didn’t feel sprained or broken.

“I’m all right,” Jinu reassured with a smile, trying to put weight on his foot. Abby looked sceptical.

“Your foot is hurting,” Mystery frowned.

“Just a bit,” Jinu admitted softly.

“Lean on us,” Romance said with a shake of his head.

“I will,” Jinu lightly patted his shoulder as he leaned against Mystery.

“Where is Baby?” Jinu asked. Their youngest was not hovering besides them.

“He is giving them hell,” Mira said with a grin as she pointed to the side of the stage. Baby was shouting at the host of the show and at the security personnel. His arms were wildly gesturing. And if he could, he would be breathing fire.

“He is pissed,” Abby said with a whistle. It was unusual to see their youngest this unhinged. Baby prided himself on his control.

“He shouldn’t take it out on the staff,” Jinu said with a frown. He made an attempt to go over there, but Mystery and Abby stopped him.

“He has every right to be angry,” Mira said with a snort.

“You could have died,” Rumi said with a growl. Her eyes felt suspiciously wet. Jinu sent her a reassuring smile and gently reached out and took her hand. He squeezed once as if to say that he was all right. The touch was fleeting before he dropped her hand again. There were too many eyes on them.

The staff was leading the loudly protesting fans outside, but it was taking a while. The fans were reasonably worried and many didn’t want to leave without reassuring themselves that their idols were fine.

“Something like this should not have happened,” Zoey said with a frown as she looked up at the stage lights.

“There are supposed to be safety measures and maintenance controls in place specifically so something like this doesn’t happen,” she added, still frowning.

“It is highly unusual,” Mira agreed. The Saja Boys shared a look. First the water and now this something was definitely amiss.

Baby was getting red in the face from all of his shouting. His gestures were getting angrier and Rumi had a feeling that soon he would actually attempt to throttle someone.

“Baby!” Jinu called loudly and he froze. Slowly, he turned around and when he caught sight of Jinu standing there he made his way over with hurried footsteps.

“Stop terrorizing the poor staff,” Jinu commented lightly. Baby glared at him and invaded his space until he dropped his head onto Jinu’s chest. Jinu chuckled lightly.

“Thank you for worrying about me,” Jinu said as he lightly ruffled his hair. Baby let out a grunt of acknowledgement.

“Don’t do it again,” Baby grumbled. Baby was the one with the tightest control, but also the one that thrived the most on physical contact. He came off as standoffish, but he was actually the one that was the most physically affectionate, similar to Abby. Jinu had lost track of how often Abby carried their youngest around, who pretended to hate it.

“I will try not to let any more stage lights nearly fall on me,” Jinu said with a grin. Their youngest was adorable.

“And if one falls, I do have my beautiful knight in shining armor,” Jinu added with a wink towards Rumi. Baby made a gagging sound while she let out a weak chuckle. Her heart still felt like it was pumping in overtime. Her body was still poised and ready for another surprise attack. Her eyes skimmed over the people around them restlessly.

Mira took her left hand and Zoey her right. They squeezed as if to reassure her. Rumi clung back. Her friend's touch was like a life raft in a tumultuous ocean. She felt unmoored and on edge. Mira and Zoey stood so close to her that their shoulders touched. Their presence was like an anchor, keeping her calm and settled.

Someone from the staff ran over. Both Rumi and Jinu needed to get checked out by the medical staff on hand. They were led to separate offices. Bobby had accompanied Rumi, the poor guy looked close to tears just like Jelly the Saja Boy’s manager looked.

oOo

Zoey and Mira were waiting inside their waiting room for Rumi. They had gotten snacks and drinks in an effort to bring some form of comfort for Rumi. The different snacks and soda cans were filling the table near the couch. Bobby had left the room since he was getting one call after the other.

“She is taking longer than I expected?” Mira muttered with a worried frown.

“Maybe she is waiting for Jinu?” Zoey added.

“Let’s see if we can find her. She needs a moment to relax,” Mira suggested. With a stretch they got up and left their waiting room. In the hallway it was utter chaos. The staff of the broadcasting station was rushing through the hallway. It was as if a giant ant nest had gotten disturbed. Mira and Zoey carefully avoided the staff members.

“I see her,” Zoey said as she waved but Rumi didn’t see her. Abby was leading her into the opposite direction.

“Where are they going?” Mira frowned. As if by some kind of silent agreement they decided to follow them.

Abby led Rumi into one of the back rooms that was used as a storage for props. Mira and Zoey remained outside for a moment. They tried to listen in but were only able to understand snippets so they decided to sneak into the room as well. Carefully they opened the door. A large shelf hid the entrance from the sight of the others in the room.

“This is the second attempt,” Romance said grimly. The Saja Boys except for Jinu were leaning against the wall in the far back. Jinu seemed to still be with the medical staff.

“What do you mean ‘second attempt’?” Rumi asked with a frown. She was standing there with her arms crossed. A quiet tension was in her posture.

“There was acid in the water during his fansign.” Mystery said grimly.

“What?!” Rumi let out a shout. Her hands tightened to fists.

“Someone is targeting him,” Baby growled. His eyes were still shimmering with a burning anger.

“Who would dare try to hurt him?” Rumi ground out. Her protective instincts were alight. Mira knew just how protective she could get. She had shouted at Mira’s father in defense of her once before. Nothing was as powerful as Rumi when she had someone to protect.

“Who do you think would benefit the most if Jinu couldn’t sing?” Abby said with a cold voice.

“Gwi-Ma,” Rumi breathed out the name of the demon King. The other Saja Boys nodded grimly.

Mira and Zoey exchanged a startled look. How did the Saja Boys know of the Demon King? Something was amiss and Rumi seemed to be caught right in the middle of it. Mira wanted to step out of their hiding spot to confront them directly, but Zoey grabbed her wrist and stopped her. She shook her head. They needed to listen more. Maybe everything could be explained.

Chapter Text

“The demons didn’t work, so now he is trying out the more sneaky variant?” Rumi asked with a frown. She couldn’t imagine Gwi-Ma taking someone out with acid or poison. He always used to just send his demons after them.

“Are we sure that today wasn’t an accident?” Rumi asked. Her hands were clenched into fists.

“The fixture holding the light was sawed off,” Baby said grimly.

“There was the faintest demonic stench on it,” Mystery said with a wrinkle of his nose.

“Someone is really targeting him,” Rumi ground out. Someone was trying to kill Jinu. She could have lost him. The image of Jinu covered in blood would not leave her mind. It hadn’t happened, but she could imagine it all too easily.

“Gwi-Ma has probably sent a demon specialized in stealth who is immune to Jinu’s voice,” Mystery concluded with a solemn nod.

“If I catch him I will rip him limp from limp,” Baby growled.

“He should be glad to die at our hand and not Gwi-Ma’s,” Abby’s smile was blood thirsty.

“Guys, you will first have to catch him,” Rumi said with a worried frown.

“We will catch him,” Romance promised with a smile that seemed almost painted on with how fake it was.

“You guys are acting a bit scary,” Rumi said with a frown.

“Did you forget what we are, huntress?” Baby said with a dark expression.

“Even without Gwi-Ma’s voice, we are demons. We have all committed sins,” Romance vowed in a low voice. Their eyes glinted in the low light of the room.

“Even without Gwi-Ma’s command we are capable of atrocious deeds,” Abby added as he looked down on his hands as if he could see the blood dripping.

“I set my father on fire and laughed as he screamed,” Baby said with a distorted grin, “even before I was a demon, my sins had drenched me in blood.”

“Your father was an abusive bastard,” Abby growled. He had dealt with the aftermath of Baby’s nightmares the most out of all of them. He knew more than enough.
“Fire called to me after. I burned many people for coins. I am covered in ash and blood,” Baby said.

“You literally only targeted abusers.” Romance added softly. Baby had the most nightmares after Jinu.

“Jinu never judged, he still lets me lean against him. Even with the blood on my hands.” Baby said as he looked at his hands.

“I was born sickly, always stuck in bed. I was never able to play like the other children. When Gwi-Ma promised me a healthy body, I didn’t hesitate," Abby said. It was unimaginable to think of Abby as a sickly child.

“I became healthy and got sent to war, I became a soldier. Killing day after day. There was nothing but bloodshed. I was Gwi-Ma’s soldier long before I became a demon,” Abby muttered with a bitter smile.

“We all bear our sins, we all fell for his voice.” Mystery said grimly.

“No one loved me, so I wanted all the love and attention,” Romance said with a shrug of his shoulders. Being seen and being loved had been like a drug when Romance was alive. He had not considered the shadows it would bring. Unlike the persona he played, Romance hated to be touched suddenly. When he awoke from a nightmare, none of them could touch him for a while. They had to gently approach him or he would lash out.

“The first time I killed I was seven,” Mystery said. He didn’t mention that it had been a fight for survival over a measly scrap of bread. Starvation had been nipping at his heels.

“We are all demons, drenched in sin and pain,” Baby said gently. Rumi had listened to them in silence.

“It sounds to me that all of you were traumatized and Gwi-Ma manipulated you,” Rumi said softly.

“That might be so, but they are still our sins,” Romance maintained.

“So the only thing we can do is prevent Gwi-ma from rising,” Abby stretched as he spoke.

“The Honmoon needs to stay strong,” Romance said.

“Never thought I’d hear the day where we want the Honmoon to be golden,” Abby grinned as he said the words.

“Jinu saved us from the King of Hell so now it is our turn to protect him,” Mystery added.

“We will find that demon and make him pay,” Baby said grimly. The only sign of the demon was the faintest smell left. It was so faint that it had taken Mystery far longer than he had liked to catch it.

“I will not get in your way but don’t get hurt or else Jinu will worry,” Rumi answered their words with a solemn nod.

“Jinu believes in you, Huntress,” Baby said slowly as if he was savouring the words.

“He trusts you,” Mystery added.

“So don’t break his heart,” Romance said with a wave of his hand.

“Are we going over to the shovel talk now?” Rumi asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Nah, Jinu would murder us should he ever find out that we threatened you in any way,” Abby answered with a chuckle.

“Also, you are stronger than us,” Baby added with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Jinu thinks he is a monster; nobody carries as much guilt and shame as he does, and yet he is the only one who can block out Gwi-Ma’s whispers,” Mystery said gently. His tone sounded almost wistful.

“Jinu mentioned before that the worst thing were his whispers,” Rumi said. He had sounded so relieved when he said that she was unable to hear them.

“Gwi-Ma loves to torment the demons below him,” Abby grimaced as he spoke.

“He constantly whispers in your ear. His words are laced with poison,” Romance was rubbing his arms up and down as if to warm himself.

“Fear, shame and guilt are his favourite emotions to evoke, because that’s what he uses to control us,” Baby said with a shrug.

“This has been the first time in 360 years that I don’t hear him,” Mystery said with a sigh.

“It drives you insane after a while, it’s like getting stabbed by a thousand knives every day,” Abby shuddered.

“A lot of the really old demons have gone completely insane, those older than even Jinu,” Baby added.

“There are two ways in which that insanity is shown, either they become useless in Gwi-Ma’s eyes and get burned to ash, or they become mindless, bloodthirsty monsters,” Romance explained. The words lingered in the room like mist in the morning.

“The faceless ones?” Rumi asked after a moment.

“They are something else, no one knows where they spawned from. Some say they came from Gwi-Ma’s shadow itself,” Mystery explained.

“They are also outside of the normal hierarchy, they solely listen to Gwi-Ma’s command. His word is their law. Whereas we were able to bend his words somewhat so it benefited us at least a little," Abby said with a wave of his hand.

“Is there a hierarchy in the demon world?” Rumi asked.

“Oh yeah, the more powerful you are, the better your position,” Romance said with a grimace.

“Those that are weak are at the bottom and nothing more than fodder,” Abby continued with a sad sigh.

“Honestly, Huntress, demons are destroying themselves best,” Baby said with a grin and a shrug.

“Though Jinu has thrown a wrench into the gears of the demon world,” Mystery said with a smile. Rumi had a really hard time reading him. The hair covering half his face didn’t help. Sometimes it felt like she was listening to a talking mob with a body.

“Things are changing aren’t they?” Rumi said with a small smile. She could almost see the demonic patterns beneath her clothes as she looked at her arms.

“Jinu is the wind of change, the spark igniting a rebellion after centuries of stagnation,” Mystery nodded with a small smile.

“It is our duty to make sure that flame doesn’t go out,” Romance said with a grin.

“And if the flame grows strong enough to consume another fire, all the better,” Baby’s smile was savage.

“Don’t fight Gwi-Ma alone,” Rumi said with steel in her words.

“We Hunters have trained for generations to keep him at bay and we have the strength to push him back, so let us help,” Rumi said as she clenched her fists. More than one hunter had lost their lives thanks to the flames of Gwi-Ma. It was their duty to protect the world from the demons. It was their purpose to deal with him. They had trained all their lives for that fight.

“Jinu would kill us if you were to get hurt,” Mystery said softly with a small smile.

“That is not up to him,” Rumi said sternly as she flipped her braid over her shoulder.

“We are not denying that, just be careful. We don’t want to see Jinu hurt,” Baby said bluntly.

“I know,” Rumi said as she smiled at Baby.

“We need to get back to him soon. Jinu gets restless when he is alone,” Romance said.

“Go to him, we still need to track down the saboteur,” Abby suggested.

“He will feel better with you by his side,” Romance said with a grin.

“If you need help, please let me know,” Rumi said before she turned around. She walked towards the door. Something rustled for a moment, she stopped, but no more noises followed, so she thought that she had imagined it. With a click the door fell shut behind her as she left.

“She is not bad for a huntress,” Baby grudgingly admitted after she left.

“Awww, that's basically a stamp of approval,” Romance cooed with delight. Baby kicked his shin in retaliation.

“No brawling, Baby and Romance can you check the security cameras?” Abby asked after a moment.

“You two are the ones that deal with technology the best, I will talk with the employees and Mystery check if you can track some kind of scent,” Abby instructed. Now that Jinu was stuck inside the infirmary the leader role fell onto his shoulders. Usually it would be the second eldest job, but Mystery wanted nothing to do with being leader so it fell to Abby, the third eldest of the group.

“Got it,” Romance and Baby nodded before disappearing into a poof of pink smoke. Abby disappeared as well. Only Mystery remained inside the storage room. Silence stretched for a few seconds before Mystery spoke.

“I can smell you two,” He declared loudly. The smell of Zoey and Mira lingered in the air. He had noticed it as soon as they had hidden inside the room.

Mira had her weapon pointed towards him as she stepped out behind a shelf. Zoey’s weapons were loosely held in her hands. She looked at him with wide eyes. She looked confused and a bit hurt. Mira was tightly holding onto her weapon, her hands were shaking.

“A demon revolution?” The words were growled out.

“You think we’re gullible enough to believe that?” She spat as she never took his eyes off of him.

Mystery scoffed. “Well, your leader seems to believe it just fine, so I don’t see why you should have any more issues. Either way, whether you believe it or not doesn’t really factor in here. It's happening.”

Mira looked ready to lunge at Mystery with her Gok-Do but Zoey intervened.

“What is happening?” She hissed. “What is it, that you want us to believe you’re doing here and why is Rumi involved at all? She’s not a demon. If the demons want to overthrow their king, that’s not her problem. Or ours for that matter! We don’t care what happens in the demon realm. We don’t care about your politics. All we care about is keeping humans safe from demons like you.”

Mystery took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. She was right, in a way. The Hunters, in theory, had no reason to care about Gwi-ma. Aside from him being the source of demonkind, which Mystery wasn’t sure the hunters even knew about, Gwi-ma had not been present in the human realm since the honmoon was first created. The Hunters tended to face far more immediate demonic threats.

However, all that meant was that he needed to give them a reason to care.

“Gwi-ma is not just the king of demons, he’s the source of demons. He creates us, and then chains us to his will with his voice. Jinu is able to suppress that voice with his own, so we follow him. If we succeed in removing Gwi-ma from power, there will be far fewer new demons and the ones that already exist will have free will. I won’t promise that you’ll never see another attack, but I know for a fact that there’s more than a few demons who just want to be left alone.”

Mira and Zoey exchanged a glance, but neither of them lowered their weapons. Mira spoke next.

“Even if what you say is true, and I’m not saying that we believe you, how do we know that the situation would be any better afterwards. You say you want to take away Gwi-ma’s power. Sure. Be my guest. What’s gonna happen after that? Is Jinu gonna be the new King of Hell? Do you want us to believe that that would be any better? Apparently, everything we thought we knew about you guys was an act, so how are we meant to trust you? Don’t answer that.”

Zoey chimed, adding “Yeah, don’t answer that. We don’t. And I’m deleting the groupchat.”

Mystery shook his head. “Do what you think you have to, but maybe consider talking to Rumi about this. She is working with us and I know you trust her, even if you don’t trust any of us. Maybe ask yourselves why.”

“And we trust her, since Jinu believes her. His faith in her is unshakeable, might be because he is hopelessly in love with her,” Mystery grinned at them. It was the first time Zoey was able to catch a glance of his eyes through his hair. They shone like sapphires beneath the light.

He had done all he could here. Whether his words would be enough to reach the Hunters or if they'd need to see the revolution happen with their own eyes, Mystery couldn't say. What he knew was that he'd do everything in his power to see Gwi-ma removed from his throne, and if the Hunters didn't like it they'd just have to deal.

Before Mira and Zoey could react he disappeared with a spark and a cloud of red. The two of them shared a look, they needed an answer. They had to talk to Rumi.

oOo

Rumi had walked back towards the infirmary once she found their waiting room, the Show had prepared for them, to be empty. Zoey and Mira weren’t there. She wrote them a quick message before she made her way back towards Jinu.

Her shoulders were tense and every loud sound made her flinch. She felt like there would be a demon attack at any moment. The last remnants of the adrenaline were still coursing through her veins. Jinu could have died. He could have died right in front of her.

She didn’t know what would happen then.

“I’m fine,” She could hear him grumble through the door. The staff was saying something in response that she couldn’t make out. She knocked on the door.

When she entered the sight of Jinu smiling at her loosened the tightness that had accumulated in her shoulders. He was fine. He was smiling at her as if she was the rising sun and he couldn’t contain his awe at the sight. It made her flustered.

“My hero has arrived,” Jinu said with a teasing grin.

“Please whisk me away from this place,” Jinu begged immediately much to the annoyance of the medical staff. Rumi saw more than one eyeroll.

“He needs to remain here for at least another hour so that we can keep an eye on him,” One of the medical staff said with a tired sigh.

“I don’t like having that many eyes on me,” Jinu protested.

“You do know that you are an idol, right?” Rumi asked with an arched eyebrow of disbelief.

“The eyes of a medic are not the same,” Jinu said with a shudder.

“Like a toddler,” One of the Medics muttered.

“I have an emergency button. If I start feeling like I'll drop dead, I can just call you guys?” Jinu said as he held up the small button in his hand.

“There is also a security camera,” He added as he pointed towards the corner of the room.

“Fine, we will leave you alone but do not leave this bed for at least another hour.e will check on you,” The tone of the medic was threatening.

“Anything I should keep an eye on?” Rumi asked. While Rumi talked with the medical staff Jinu felt his phone vibrate. Mystery had written him a message.

‘They know’ The words sounded ominous. Jinu quickly typed an answer. The message felt sinister. He also didn’t quite understand what he meant.

“Behave!” The medic pointed a threatening finger towards Jinu who saluted reflexively. The door fell shut behind the medical team with a loud bang.

“I am not planning on doing anything recklessly,” Jinu pouted.

“You, not reckless? The world must be ending,” Rumi said with a roll of her eyes.

“I am not reckless,” Jinu pouted. His many actions in the past belied his words.

“Also do they have to be that fussy,” Jinu muttered with a sigh.

“I am a demon and I wasn’t even hit, I am not that fragile,” Jinu complained. He was not a normal mortal. Something small like a falling light would not have killed him. Probably. Maimed him though, that was more likely.

“They are just worried,” Rumi said as she sat down on the edge of his bed.

“It’s ridiculous, there is no reason to be,” Jinu said with a roll of his eyes.

“I was worried as well,” Rumi admitted. Jinu immediately softened. He reached out and gently took a hold of her hand.

“You saved me, I’m completely fine,” Jinu promised.

“When I close my eyes I see you with blood in your hair, laying unmoving on that stage,” Rumi admitted in a small voice.

He pulled the blanket off his lap to sit down beside her on the edge of the bed. He laid his arm over her shoulders.

“I’m here and I am not going anywhere,” Jinu promised solemnly. Rumi leaned into the contact. Content to soak up the warmth he freely offered. They sat side by side in silence. Not an oppressive silence but a silence filled with warmth and gentleness.

The sound of knocking interrupted their peaceful bubble. The door burst open. Mira and Zoey stepped into the room. Something had happened.

Mira’s face was like a storm waiting to unleash thunder whereas Zoey looked like she was about to cry. Rumi looked at her friends with wide eyes.